For a matroid $M$ of rank $r$ on $n$ elements, let $b(M)$ denote the fraction of bases of $M$ among the subsets of the ground set with cardinality $r$. We show that $$Ω(1/n)\leq 1-b(M)\leq O(\log(n)^3/n)\text{ as }n\rightarrow \infty$$ for asymptotically almost all matroids $M$ on $n$ elements. We derive that asymptotically almost all matroids on $n$ elements (1) have a $U_{k,2k}$-minor, whenever $k\leq O(\log(n))$, (2) have girth $\geq Ω(\log(n))$, (3) have Tutte connectivity $\geq Ω(\sqrt{\log(n)})$, and (4) do not arise as the truncation of another matroid.
Our argument is based on a refined method for writing compressed descriptions of any given matroid, which allows bounding the number of matroids in a class relative to the number of sparse paving matroids.
We use counting arguments to show that asymptotically almost all sparse paving matroids contain an $H$-minor, where $H$ falls into one of several simple classes of matroids. Furthermore the result holds for all $H$ in a larger class of matroids, if we restrict to asymptotically almost all sparse paving matroids of fixed rank $r$ (where $r$ is necessarily no smaller than the rank of $H$).
We prove that asymptotically almost all matroids have a trivial automorphism group, or an automorphism group generated by a single transposition. Additionally, we show that asymptotically almost all sparse paving matroids have a trivial automorphism group.
Given a 3-connected biased graph $Ω$ with a balancing vertex, and with frame matroid $F(Ω)$ nongraphic and 3-connected, we determine all biased graphs $Ω'$ with $F(Ω') = F(Ω)$. As a consequence, we show that if $M$ is a 4-connected nongraphic frame matroid represented by a biased graph $Ω$ having a balancing vertex, then $Ω$ essentially uniquely represents $M$. More precisely, all biased graphs representing $M$ are obtained from $Ω$ by replacing a subset of the edges incident to its unique balancing vertex with unbalanced loops.
We prove the positivity of Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials for sparse paving matroids, which are known to be logarithmically almost all matroids, but are conjectured to be almost all matroids. The positivity follows from a remarkably simple combinatorial formula we discovered for these polynomials using skew young tableaux. This supports the conjecture that Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials for all matroids have non-negative coeffiecients. In special cases, such as uniform matroids, our formula has a nice combinatorial interpretation.
We prove that for every proper minor-closed class $M$ of matroids representable over a prime field, there exists a constant-competitive matroid secretary algorithm for the matroids in $M$. This result relies on the extremely powerful matroid minor structure theory being developed by Geelen, Gerards and Whittle. We also note that for asymptotically almost all matroids, the matroid secretary algorithm that selects a random basis, ignoring weights, is $(2+o(1))$-competitive. In fact, assuming the conjecture that almost all matroids are paving, there is a $(1+o(1))$-competitive algorithm for almos…
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 3-connected matroids with $M_0\cong N$, $M_n=M$ and for $i\in \{1,..., n\}$, $M_i$ is a single-element extension or coextension of $M_{i-1}$. Observe that there is no condition on how many extensions may occur before a coextension must occur. In this paper, we give a strengthening of the Splitter Theorem, as a result of which we can obtain, up to isomorphism, $M$ …
It has been conjectured that sparse paving matroids will eventually predominate in any asymptotic enumeration of matroids, i.e. that $\lim_{n\rightarrow\infty} s_n/m_n = 1$, where $m_n$ denotes the number of matroids on $n$ elements, and $s_n$ the number of sparse paving matroids. In this paper, we show that $$\lim_{n\rightarrow \infty}\frac{\log s_n}{\log m_n}=1.$$ We prove this by arguing that each matroid on $n$ elements has a faithful description consisting of a stable set of a Johnson graph together with a (by comparison) vanishing amount of other information, and using that stable sets i…
It has been conjectured that asymptotically almost all matroids are sparse paving, i.e. that $s(n) \sim m(n)$, where $m(n)$ denotes the number of matroids on a fixed groundset of size $n$, and $s(n)$ the number of sparse paving matroids. In an earlier paper, we showed that $\log s(n) \sim \log m(n)$. The bounds that we used for that result were dominated by matroids of rank $r\approx n/2$. In this paper we consider the relation between the number of sparse paving matroids $s(n,r)$ and the number of matroids $m(n,r)$ on a fixed groundset of size $n$ of fixed rank $r$. In particular, we show tha…
A coloring of the ground set of a matroid is proper if elements of the same color form an independent set. For a loopless matroid $M$, its chromatic number $χ(M)$ is the minimum number of colors in a proper coloring. In this note we study a game-theoretic variant of this parameter. Suppose that Alice and Bob alternately properly color the ground set of a matroid $M$ using a fixed set of colors. The game ends when the whole matroid has been colored, or if they arrive to a partial coloring that cannot be further properly extended. Alice wins in the first case, while Bob in the second. The game c…
We introduce delta-graphic matroids, which are matroids whose bases form graphic delta-matroids. The class of delta-graphic matroids contains graphic matroids as well as cographic matroids and is a proper subclass of the class of regular matroids. We give a structural characterization of the class of delta-graphic matroids. We also show that every forbidden minor for the class of delta-graphic matroids has at most $48$ elements.
The weak-map order on the matroid base polytopes is the partial order defined by inclusion. Lucas proved that the base polytope of no binary matroid includes the base polytope of a connected matroid. A matroid base polytope is said to be decomposable when it has a polytopal decomposition which consists of at least two matroid base polytopes. We shed light on the relation between the decomposability and the weak-map order of matroid base polytopes. We classify matroids into five types with respect to the weak-map order and decomposability. We give an example of a matroid in each class. Moreover…
As part of the recent developments in infinite matroid theory, there have been a number of conjectures about how standard theorems of finite matroid theory might extend to the infinite setting. These include base packing, base covering, and matroid intersection and union. We show that several of these conjectures are equivalent, so that each gives a perspective on the same central problem of infinite matroid theory. For finite matroids, these equivalences give new and simpler proofs for the finite theorems corresponding to these conjectures. This new point of view also allows us to extend, and…
In this paper, we study flag structures of matroid base polytopes. We describe faces of matroid base polytopes in terms of matroid data, and give conditions for hyperplane splits of matroid base polytopes. Also, we show how the cd-index of a polytope can be expressed when a polytope is split by a hyperplane, and apply these to the cd-index of a matroid base polytope of a rank 2 matroid.
This thesis presents new applications of Gale duality to the study of polytopes, point configurations and oriented matroids with extremal combinatorial properties. The first part of the thesis explores construction techniques for neighborly polytopes and oriented matroids. First, we provide a new interpretation of Shemer's classical Sewing Construction for neighborly polytopes in terms of lexicographic extensions of oriented matroids. This allows us to provide a simplified proof and to generalize it to oriented matroids in two ways: the Extended Sewing Construction and the Gale Sewing Construc…
A lattice path matroid is a transversal matroid corresponding to a pair of lattice paths on the plane. A matroid base polytope is the polytope whose vertices are the incidence vectors of the bases of the given matroid. In this paper, we study facial structures of matroid base polytopes corresponding to lattice path matroids.
In this paper, we define generalized splitting and element splitting operations on $p$-matroids. $p$-matroids are the matroids representable over $GF(p).$ The circuits and the bases of the new matroid are characterized in terms of circuits and bases of the original matroid, respectively. A class of $n$-connected $p$-matroids which gives n-connected $p$- matroids using the generalized splitting operation is also characterized. We also prove that connectivity of $p$-matroid is preserved under element splitting operation. Sufficient conditions to obtain Eulerian $p$-matroid from Eulerian $p$-matr…
The $es$-splitting operation on binary bridge-less matroids never produces an Eulerian matroid. But for matroids representable over $GF(p),(p>2),$ called $p$-matroids, the $es$-splitting operation may yield Eulerian matroids. In this work, we introduce the $es$-splitting operation for $p$-matroids and characterize a class of $p$-matroids yielding Eulerian matroids after the $es$-splitting operation. Characterization of circuits, and bases of the resulting matroid, after the $es$-splitting operation, in terms of circuits, and bases of the original matroid, respectively, are discussed. We also p…
We present a new algorithm for computing the volume of an arbitrary matroid base polytope. We provide two applications of this approach: a relation between the volume of the base polytope of a matroid $\M$ and its relaxation $\M'$, and a formula for the volume of an arbitrary sparse paving matroid base polytope.
We introduce the matroid-minor coalgebra C, which has labeled matroids as distinguished basis, and coproduct given by splitting a matroid into a submatroid and complementary contraction all possible ways. We introduce two new bases for C; the first of these is is related to the distinguished basis by Mobius inversion over the rank-preserving weak order on matroids, the second by Mobius inversion over the suborder excluding matroids that are irreducible with respect to the free product operation. We show that the subset of each of these bases corresponding to the set of irreducible matroids is …
Introduced by Ardila (J. Combin. Theory Ser. A, 2003), the Catalan matroid is obtained by defining the bases of the matroid using Dyck paths from $(0,0)$ to $(n,n)$. Further research has gone into the topic, with variants like lattice path matroids (introduced by Bonin, de Mier, and Noy (J. Combin. Theory Ser. A, 2003)) and shifted matroids (introduced independently by Klivans (2003), and Ardila) being studied intensively. In this short note, we introduce the Young matroid, an extension of the Catalan matroid, where the bases are defined using the standard Young tableaux of a fixed shape. This…
We study some properties of a serial (i.e. one-by-one) symmetric exchange of elements of two disjoint bases of a matroid. We show that any two elements of one base have a serial symmetric exchange with some two elements of the other base. As a result, we obtain that any two disjoint bases in a matroid of rank 4 have a full serial symmetric exchange.
We consider the class of graphs for which the edge connectivity is equal to the maximum number of edge-disjoint spanning trees, and the natural generalization to matroids, where the cogirth is equal to the number of disjoint bases. We provide descriptions of such graphs and matroids, showing that such a graph (or matroid) has a unique decomposition. In the case of graphs, our results are relevant for certain communication protocols.
A catalogue of all non-isomorphic simple connected regular matroids ${\cal M}$ of cardinality $n \leq 15$ is provided on the net. These matroids are given as binary matrix matroids and are sieved from the large pool of all non-isomorphic binary matrix matroids of cardinality $\leq 15$. For each ${\cal M}$ its Tutte polynomial is determined by an algorithm based on internal and external base activity.
This is a continuation of the early paper concerning matroid base polytope decomposition. Here, we will present sufficient conditions on $M$ so its base matroid polytope $P(M)$ has a {\em sequence} of hyperplane splits. The latter yields to decompositions of $P(M)$ with two or more pieces for infinitely many matroids $M$. We also present necessary conditions on the Euclidean representation of rank three matroids $M$ for the existences of decompositions of $P(M)$ into $2$ or $3$ pieces. Finally, we prove that $P(M_1 \oplus M_2)$ has a sequence of hyperplane splits if either $P(M_1)$ or $P(M_2)$…
A new isomorphism invariant of matroids is introduced, in the form of a quasisymmetric function. This invariant (1) defines a Hopf morphism from the Hopf algebra of matroids to the quasisymmetric functions, which is surjective if one uses rational coefficients, (2) is a multivariate generating function for integer weight vectors that give minimum total weight to a unique base of the matroid, (3) is equivalent, via the Hopf antipode, to a generating function for integer weight vectors which keeps track of how many bases minimize the total weight, (4) behaves simply under matroid duality, (5) ha…
Rota's basis conjecture (RBC) states that given a collection B of n bases in a matroid M of rank n, one can always find n disjoint rainbow bases with respect to B. We show that if M is a matroid having n + k elements, then one can construct n - k^3 disjoint rainbow bases, where b is a constant depending only on k.
Let $P(M)$ be the matroid base polytope of a matroid $M$. A {\em matroid base polytope decomposition} of $P(M)$ is a decomposition of the form $P(M) = \bigcup\limits_{i=1}^t P(M_{i})$ where each $P(M_i)$ is also a matroid base polytope for some matroid $M_i$, and for each $1\le i \neq j\le t$, the intersection $P(M_{i}) \cap P(M_{j})$ is a face of both $P(M_i)$ and $P(M_j)$. In this paper, we investigate {\em hyperplane splits}, that is, polytope decompositions when $t=2$. We give sufficient conditions for $M$ so $P(M)$ has a hyperplane split and characterize when $P(M_1 \oplus M_2)$ has a hyp…
We prove that the ranks of the subsets and the activities of the bases of a matroid define valuations for the subdivisions of a matroid polytope into smaller matroid polytopes.
For a matroid $N$, a matroid $M$ is $N$-connected if every two elements of $M$ are in an $N$-minor together. Thus a matroid is connected if and only if it is $U_{1,2}$-connected. This paper proves that $U_{1,2}$ is the only connected matroid $N$ such that if $M$ is $N$-connected with $|E(M)| > |E(N)|$, then $M \backslash e$ or $M / e$ is $N$-connected for all elements $e$. Moreover, we show that $U_{1,2}$ and $M(\mathcal{W}_2)$ are the only connected matroids $N$ such that, whenever a matroid has an $N$-minor using $\{e,f\}$ and an $N$-minor using $\{f,g\}$, it also has an $N$-minor using $\{e…
The active bijection for oriented matroids (and real hyperplane arrangements, and graphs, as particular cases) is introduced and investigated by the authors in a series of papers. Given any oriented matroid defined on a linearly ordered ground set, we exhibit one particularité of its bases, which we call its active basis, with remarkable properties. It preserves activities (for oriented matroids in the sense of Las Vergnas, for matroid bases in the sense of Tutte), as well as some active partitions of the ground set associated with oriented matroids and matroid bases. It yields a canonical bij…
We prove a new exchange property for bases of a matroid that generalizes the multiple symmetric exchange property. For every bases $B_1,\dots,B_k$ of a matroid and a subset $A_1\subset B_1$ there exist subsets $A_2\subset B_2,\dots,A_k\subset B_k$ such that all sets $(B_i\setminus A_i)\cup A_{i-1}$ achieved by a cyclic shift of $A_i$'s by one are bases.
The way circuits, relative to a basis, are affected as a result of exchanging a basis element, is studied. As consequences, it is shown that three consecutive symmetric exchanges exist for any two bases of a matroid, and that a full serial symmetric exchange, of length at most 6, exists for any two bases of a matroid of rank 5. A new characterization of binary matroids, related to basis-exchange, is presented.
We introduce and study filtrations of a matroid on a linearly ordered ground set, which are particular sequences of nested sets. A given basis can be decomposed into a uniquely defined sequence of bases of minors, such that these bases have an internal/external activity equal to 1/0 or 0/1 (in the sense of Tutte polynomial activities). This decomposition, which we call the active filtration/partition of the basis, refines the known partition of the ground set into internal and external elements with respect to a given basis. It can be built by a certain closure operator, which we call the acti…
The property of balance (in the sense of Feder and Mihail) is investigated in the context of paving matroids. The following examples are exhibited: (a) a class of ``sparse'' paving matroids that are balanced, but at the same time rich enough combinatorially to permit the encoding of hard counting problems; and (b) a paving matroid that is not balanced. The computational significance of (a) is the following. As a consequence of balance, there is an efficient algorithm for approximating the number of bases of a sparse paving matroid within specified relative error. On the other hand, determining…
The multiple exchange property for matroid bases is generalized for valuated matroids and M$^\natural$-concave set functions. The proof is based on the Fenchel-type duality theorem in discrete convex analysis. The present result has an implication in economics: The strong no complementarities (SNC) condition of Gul and Stacchetti is in fact equivalent to the gross substitutes (GS) condition of Kelso and Crawford.
A coloring of a matroid is an assignment of colors to the elements of its ground set. We restrict to proper colorings - those for which elements of the same color form an independent set. Seymour proved that a $k$-colorable matroid is also colorable from any lists of size $k$. We generalize this theorem to the case when lists have still fixed sizes, but not necessarily equal. For any fixed size of lists assignment $\ell$, we prove that, if a matroid is colorable from a particular lists of size $\ell$, then it is colorable from any lists of size $\ell$. This gives an explicit necessary and suff…
Las Vergnas and Hamidoune studied the number of circuits needed to determine an oriented matroid. In this paper we investigate this problem and some new variants, as well as their interpretation in particular classes of matroids. We present general upper and lower bounds in the setting of general connected orientable matroids, leading to the study of subgraphs of the base graph and the intersection graph of circuits. We then consider the problem for uniform matroids which is closely related to the notion of (connected) covering numbers in Design Theory. Finally, we also devote special attentio…
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 of matroids on $n$ elements whose cover complexity is bounded. We apply cover complexity to show that the class of matroids without an $N$-minor is asymptotically small in case $N$ is one of the sparse paving matroids $U_{2,k}$, $U_{3,6}$, $P_6$, $Q_6$, or $R_6$, thus confirming a few special cases of a conjecture due to Mayhew, Newman, Welsh, and Whittle. …
We give two proofs that the $h$-vector of any paving matroid is a pure O-sequence, thus answering in the affirmative a conjecture made by R. Stanley, for this particular class of matroids. We also investigate the problem of obtaining good lower bounds for the number of bases of a paving matroid given its rank and number of elements.
The first author introduced the circuit-cocircuit reversal system of an oriented matroid, and showed that when the underlying matroid is regular, the cardinalities of such system and its variations are equal to special evaluations of the Tutte polynomial (e.g., the total number of circuit-cocircuit reversal classes equals $t(M;1,1)$, the number of bases of the matroid). By relating these classes to activity classes studied by the first author and Las Vergnas, we give an alternative proof of the above results and a proof of the converse statements that these equalities fail whenever the underly…
We give a deterministic polynomial time $2^{O(r)}$-approximation algorithm for the number of bases of a given matroid of rank $r$ and the number of common bases of any two matroids of rank $r$. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first nontrivial deterministic approximation algorithm that works for arbitrary matroids. Based on a lower bound of Azar, Broder, and Frieze [ABF94] this is almost the best possible result assuming oracle access to independent sets of the matroid. There are two main ingredients in our result: For the first, we build upon recent results of Adiprasito, Huh, and Ka…
