Related papers: Stability, fragility, and Rota's Conjecture

We relate two conjectures that play a central role in the reported proof of Rota's Conjecture. Let $\mathbb F$ be a finite field. The first conjecture states that: the branch-width of any $\mathbb F$-representable $N$-fragile matroid is…

Let $M$ be an excluded minor for the class of $\mathbb{P}$-representable matroids for some partial field $\mathbb P$, and let $N$ be a $3$-connected strong $\mathbb{P}$-stabilizer that is non-binary. We prove that either $M$ is bounded…

If S is a set of matroids, then the matroid M is S-fragile if, for every element e in E(M), either M\e or M/e has no minor isomorphic to a member of S. Excluded-minor characterizations often depend, implicitly or explicitly, on…

Consider a random $n\times m$ matrix $A$ over the finite field of order $q$ where every column has precisely $k$ nonzero elements, and let $M[A]$ be the matroid represented by $A$. In the case that q=2, Cooper, Frieze and Pegden (RS\&A…

We prove that if M is a vertically 4-connected matroid with a modular flat X of rank at least three, then every representation of M | X over a finite field F extends to a unique F-representation of M. A corollary is that when F has order q,…

We prove that for each finite field $\mathbb F$ and integer $k\in \mathbb Z$ there exists $n\in \mathbb Z$ such that no excluded minor for the class of $\mathbb F$-representable matroids has $n$ nested $k$-separations.

Let $M$ be an excluded minor for the class of $\mathbb{P}$-representable matroids for some partial field $\mathbb{P}$, let $N$ be a $3$-connected strong $\mathbb{P}$-stabilizer that is non-binary, and suppose $M$ has a pair of elements…

Let $\mathcal{N}$ be a set of matroids. A matroid $M$ is strictly $\mathcal{N}$-fragile if $M$ has a member of $\mathcal{N}$ as minor and, for all $e \in E(M)$, at least one of $M\backslash e$ and $M/e$ has no minor in $\mathcal{N}$. In…

We prove that for each prime power $q$ there is an integer $n$ such that if $M$ is a $3$-connected, representable matroid with a PG$(n-1,q)$-minor and no $U_{2,q^2+1}$-minor, then $M$ is representable over GF$(q)$. We also show that for…

For each proper minor-closed subclass $\cM$ of the $\GF(q^2)$-representable matroids containing all simple $\GF(q)$-representable matroids, we give, for all large $r$, a tight upper bound on the number of points in a rank-$r$ matroid in…

We study a matrix-based notion of matroid representation over local commutative rings obtained by replacing linear independence with modular independence. This construction always defines an independence system, though not necessarily a…

A matroid is $\text{GF}(q)$-regular if it is representable over all proper superfields of the field $\text{GF}(q)$. We show that, for highly connected matroids having a large projective geometry over $\text{GF}(q)$ as a minor, the property…

A matroid is uniform if and only if it has no minor isomorphic to $U_{1,1}\oplus U_{0,1}$ and is paving if and only if it has no minor isomorphic to $U_{2,2}\oplus U_{0,1}$. This paper considers, more generally, when a matroid $M$ has no…

Every minor-closed class of matroids of bounded branch-width can be characterized by a list of excluded minors, but unlike graphs, this list may need to be infinite in general. However, for each fixed finite field $\mathbb F$, the list…

A flat cover is a collection of flats identifying the non-bases of a matroid. We introduce the notion of cover complexity, the minimal size of such a flat cover, as a measure for the complexity of a matroid, and present bounds on the number…

The Splitter Theorem states that, if $N$ is a 3-connected proper minor of a 3-connected matroid $M$ such that, if $N$ is a wheel or whirl then $M$ has no larger wheel or whirl, respectively, then there is a sequence $M_0,..., M_n$ of…

Let $s,n \ge 2$ be integers. We give a qualitative structural description of every matroid $M$ that is spanned by a frame matroid of a complete graph and has no $U_{s,2s}$-minor and no rank-$n$ projective geometry minor, showing that every…

Let M be a matroid representable over a (partial) field P and B a matrix representable over a sub-partial field P' of P. We say that B confines M to P' if, whenever a P-representation matrix A of M has a submatrix B, A is a scaled…

The foundation of a matroid is a canonical algebraic invariant which classifies representations of the matroid up to rescaling equivalence. Foundations of matroids are pastures, a simultaneous generalization of partial fields and…

We consider the GF$(4)$-representable matroids with a circuit-hyperplane such that the matroid obtained by relaxing the circuit-hyperplane is also GF$(4)$-representable. We characterize the structure of these matroids as an application of…