Related papers: The $\alpha$-representation for the characteristic…

Consider a finite field $\mathbb F_q$, $q=p^d$, where $p$ is an odd number. Let $M=(E,r)$ be a regular matroid; denote by ${\mathcal B}$ the family of its bases, $\bar s(M;\alpha)=\sum_{B\in {\mathcal B}}\prod_{e\not\in B} \alpha_e$, where…

In 1977, Yu. V. Matiyasevich proposed a formula expressing the chromatic polynomial of an arbitrary graph as a linear combination of flow polynomials of subgraphs of the original graph. In this paper, we prove that this representation is a…

Let G be a finite connected graph. The Kirchhoff polynomial of G is a certain homogeneous polynomial whose degree is equal to the first betti number of G. These polynomials appear in the study of electrical circuits and in the evaluation of…

Let $G$ be a connected graph; denote by $\tau(G)$ the set of its spanning trees. Let $\mathbb F_q$ be a finite field, $s(\alpha,G)=\sum_{T\in\tau(G)} \prod_{e \in E(T)} \alpha_e$, where ${\alpha_e\in \mathbb F_q}$. Kontsevich conjectured in…

In this note we introduce a family of polynomials on a matroid derived from chain Tutte polynomials which generalize the classic and ubiquitous characteristic polynomial. We show that the coefficients of these polynomials alternate and…

We prove relations between the number of $k$-connected components of a graph, Crapo's invariant $\beta(M)$ of a matroid, and Speyer's polynomial $g_M(t)$. These yield a simple interpretation of $g_M'(-1)$ when $M$ is graphic or cographic.…

We associate to every matroid M a polynomial with integer coefficients, which we call the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial of M, in analogy with Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials in representation theory. We conjecture that the coefficients are always…

For a graph embedded into a surface, we relate many combinatorial parameters of the cycle matroid of the graph and the bond matroid of the dual graph with the topological parameters of the embedding. This will give an expression of the…

We primarily investigate the properties of characteristic polynomials of semimatroids. In particular, we provide a combinatorial interpretation of their coefficients, generalizing the Whitney's Broken Circuit Theorem. We also prove that the…

We show that each algebraic representation of a matroid $M$ in positive characteristic determines a matroid valuation of $M$, which we have named the {\em Lindstr\"om valuation}. If this valuation is trivial, then a linear representation of…

It is proved that for each prime field $GF(p)$, there is an integer $f(p)$ such that a 4-connected matroid has at most $f(p)$ inequivalent representations over $GF(p)$. We also prove a stronger theorem that obtains the same conclusion for…

Morphisms of matroids are combinatorial abstractions of linear maps and graph homomorphisms. We introduce the notion of basis for morphisms of matroids, and show that its generating function is strongly log-concave. As a consequence, we…

This article is a survey of matroid theory aimed at algebraic geometers. Matroids are combinatorial abstractions of linear subspaces and hyperplane arrangements. Not all matroids come from linear subspaces; those that do are said to be…

In a recent paper, the first author proved the log-concavity of the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial of a matroid realizable over a field of characteristic 0, answering a long-standing conjecture of Read in graph theory. We…

In the present paper, we provide a cohomology group as a categorification of the characteristic polynomial of matroids. The construction depends on the ``quasi-representation'' of a matroid. For a certain choice of the quasi-representation,…

Let $M$ be a matroid without loops or coloops and let $T(M;x,y)$ be its Tutte polynomial. In 1999 Merino and Welsh conjectured that $$\max(T(M;2,0), T(M;0,2))\geq T(M;1,1)$$ holds for graphic matroids. Ten years later, Conde and Merino…

Gordon introduced a class of matroids $M(n)$, for prime $n\ge 2$, such that $M(n)$ is algebraically representable, but only in characteristic $n$. Lindstr\"om proved that $M(n)$ for general $n\ge 2$ is not algebraically representable if…

Given a subgroup $\mathcal{H}$ of a product of finite groups $\mathcal{G} = \displaystyle\prod^n_{i=1} \Gamma_i$ and $b>1,$ we define a polymatroid $P(\mathcal{H},b).$ If all of the $\Gamma_i$ are isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z},$ $p$…

Let $p$ be a multilinear polynomial in several non-commuting variables with coefficients in a quadratically closed field $K$ of any characteristic. It has been conjectured that for any $n$, the image of $p$ evaluated on the set $M_n(K)$ of…

There is a convolution product on 3-variable partial flag functions of a locally finite poset that produces a generalized M\"obius function. Under the product this generalized M\"obius function is a one sided inverse of the zeta function…