English

Towards a Splitter Theorem for Internally $4$-connected Binary Matroids VI

Combinatorics 2016-08-04 v1

Abstract

Let MM be a 33-connected binary matroid; MM is called internally 44-connected if one side of every 33-separation is a triangle or a triad, and MM is (4,4,S)(4,4,S)-connected if one side of every 33-separation is a triangle, a triad, or a 44-element fan. Assume MM is internally 44-connected and that neither MM nor its dual is a cubic M\"{o}bius or planar ladder or a certain coextension thereof. Let NN be an internally 44-connected proper minor of MM. Our aim is to show that MM has a proper internally 44-connected minor with an NN-minor that can be obtained from MM either by removing at most four elements, or by removing elements in an easily described way from a special substructure of MM. When this aim cannot be met, the earlier papers in this series showed that, up to duality, MM has a good bowtie, that is, a pair, {x1,x2,x3}\{x_1,x_2,x_3\} and {x4,x5,x6}\{x_4,x_5,x_6\}, of disjoint triangles and a cocircuit, {x2,x3,x4,x5}\{x_2,x_3,x_4,x_5\}, where M\x3M\backslash x_3 has an NN-minor and is (4,4,S)(4,4,S)-connected. We also showed that, when MM has a good bowtie, either M\x3,x6M\backslash x_3,x_6 has an NN-minor; or M\x3/x2M\backslash x_3/x_2 has an NN-minor and is (4,4,S)(4,4,S)-connected. In this paper, we show that, when M\x3,x6M\backslash x_3,x_6 has an NN-minor but is not (4,4,S)(4,4,S)-connected, MM has an internally 44-connected proper minor with an NN-minor that can be obtained from MM by removing at most three elements, or by removing elements in a well-described way from one of several special substructures of MM. This is a significant step towards obtaining a splitter theorem for the class of internally 44-connected binary matroids.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1608.01022,
  title  = {Towards a Splitter Theorem for Internally $4$-connected Binary Matroids VI},
  author = {Carolyn Chun and James Oxley},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.01022},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

60 pages, 30 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-22T15:10:37.608Z