Related papers: Dense PG(n-1,2)-free binary matroids
We prove, by means of an exact structural description, that every simple triangle-free binary matroid $M$ with $|M| > \tfrac{33}{128}2^{r(M)}$ has critical number at most $2$.
A simple binary matroid, viewed as a restriction of a finite binary projective geometry $PG(n-1,2)$, is $I_{1,t}$-free if for any rank-$t$ flat of $PG(n-1,2)$, its intersection with the matroid is not a one-element set. In this paper, we…
The critical threshold of a (simple binary) matroid $N$ is the infimum over all $\rho$ such that any $N$-free matroid $M$ with $|M|>\rho2^{r(M)}$ has bounded critical number. In this paper, we resolve two conjectures of Geelen and Nelson,…
A simple binary matroid is called $I_4$-free if none of its rank-4 flats are independent sets. These objects can be equivalently defined as the sets $E$ of points in $PG(n-1,2)$ for which $|E \cap F|$ is not a basis of $F$ for any…
A simple binary matroid is called claw-free if none of its rank-3 flats are independent sets. These objects can be equivalently defined as the sets $E$ of points in $\mathrm{PG}(n-1,2)$ for which $|E \cap P|$ is not a basis of $P$ for any…
We show that, for any prime $p$ and integer $k \geq 2$, a simple GF($p$)-representable matroid with sufficiently high rank has a rank-$k$ flat which is either independent in $M$, or is a projective or affine geometry. As a corollary we…
We show that, for each real number $\epsilon > 0$ there is an integer $c$ such that, if $M$ is a simple triangle-free binary matroid with $|M| \ge (\tfrac{1}{4} + \epsilon) 2^{r(M)}$, then $M$ has critical number at most $c$. We also give a…
For each odd integer $k\ge 5$, we prove that, if $M$ is a simple rank-$r$ binary matroid with no odd circuit of length less than $k$ and with $|M| > k 2^{r-k+1}$, then $M$ is isomorphic to a restriction of the rank-$r$ binary affine…
We show that a simple rank-$r$ matroid with no $(t+1)$-element independent flat has at least as many elements as the matroid $M_{r,t}$ defined as the direct sum of $t$ binary projective geometries whose ranks pairwise differ by at most $1$.…
An 'induced restriction' of a simple binary matroid $M$ is a restriction $M|F$, where $F$ is a flat of $M$. We consider the class $\mathcal{M}$ of all simple binary matroids $M$ containing neither a free matroid on three elements (which we…
We determine the smallest simple triangle-free binary matroids that have no five-element independent flat. This solves a special case of a conjecture of Nelson and Norin.
We show that, if $k$ and $\ell$ are positive integers and $r$ is sufficiently large, then the number of rank-$k$ flats in a rank-$r$ matroid $M$ with no $U_{2,\ell+2}$-minor is less than or equal to number of rank-$k$ flats in a rank-$r$…
We show that, if $M$ is a simple rank-$n$ matroid with no $\ell$-point line minor and no minor isomorphic to the cycle matroid of a $t$-vertex complete graph, then the ratio $|M| / n$ is bounded above by a singly exponential function of…
In this paper, we give a complete characterization of binary matroids with no $P_9$-minor. A 3-connected binary matroid $M$ has no $P_9$-minor if and only if $M$ is one of the internally 4-connected non-regular minors of a special…
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…
We show for each positive integer $a$ that, if $\mathcal{M}$ is a minor-closed class of matroids not containing all rank-$(a+1)$ uniform matroids, then there exists an integer $c$ such that either every rank-$r$ matroid in $\mathcal{M}$ can…
We prove that the maximum size of a simple binary matroid of rank $r \geq 5$ with no AG(3,2)-minor is $\binom{r+1}{2}$ and characterise those matroids achieving this bound. When $r \geq 6$, the graphic matroid $M(K_{r+1})$ is the unique…
For an $n \times n$ matrix $M$ with entries in $\mathbb{Z}_2$ denote by $R(M)$ the minimal rank of all the matrices obtained by changing some numbers on the main diagonal of $M$. We prove that for each non-negative integer $k$ there is a…
For a matroid $M$ having $m$ rank-one flats, the density $d(M)$ is $\tfrac{m}{r(M)}$ unless $m = 0$, in which case $d(M)= 0$. A matroid is density-critical if all of its proper minors of non-zero rank have lower density. By a 1965 theorem…
We show for each positive integer $a$ that, if $\cM$ is a minor-closed class of matroids not containing all rank-$(a+1)$ uniform matroids, then there exists an integer $n$ such that either every rank-$r$ matroid in $\cM$ can be covered by…