We initiate the axiomatic study of affine oriented matroids (AOMs) on arbitrary ground sets, obtaining fundamental notions such as minors, reorientations and a natural embedding into the frame work of Complexes of Oriented Matroids. The restriction to the finitary case (FAOMs) allows us to study tope graphs and covector posets, as well as to view FAOMs as oriented finitary semimatroids. We show shellability of FAOMs and single out the FAOMs that are affinely homeomorphic to $\mathbb{R}^n$. Finally, we study group actions on AOMs, whose quotients in the case of FAOMs are a stepping stone towards a general theory of affine and toric pseudoarrangements. Our results include applications of the multiplicity Tutte polynomial of group actions of semimatroids, generalizing enumerative properties of toric arrangements to a combinatorially defined class of arrangements of submanifolds. This answers partially a question by Ehrenborg and Readdy.
In this thesis, we study nearly finitary matroids by introducing new definitions and prove various properties of nearly finitary matroids. In 2010, an axiom system for infinite matroids was proposed by Bruhn et al. We use this axiom system for this thesis. In Chapter 2, we summarize our main results after reviewing historical background and motivation. In Chapter 3, we define a notion of spectrum for matroids. Moreover, we show that the spectrum of a nearly finitary matroid can be larger than any fixed finite size. We also give an example of a matroid with infinitely large spectrum that is not…
We consider the problem of determining whether the union of two infinite matroids is a matroid. We introduce a superclass of the finitary matroids, the nearly finitary matroids, and prove that the union of two nearly finitary matroids is a nearly finitary matroid. On the other hand, we prove that the union of two arbitrary infinite matroids is not necessarily a matroid. Indeed, we show (under a weak additional assumption) that the nearly finitary matroids are essentially the largest class of matroids for which one can have a union theorem. We then extend the base packing theorem for finite mat…
We show that the infinite matroid intersection conjecture of Nash-Williams implies the infinite Menger theorem proved recently by Aharoni and Berger. We prove that this conjecture is true whenever one matroid is nearly finitary and the second is the dual of a nearly finitary matroid, where the nearly finitary matroids form a superclass of the finitary matroids. In particular, this proves the infinite matroid intersection conjecture for finite-cycle matroids of 2-connected, locally finite graphs with only a finite number of vertex-disjoint rays.
We present a strengthening of the countable Menger theorem (edge version) of R. Aharoni. Let $ D=(V,A) $ be a countable digraph with $ s\neq t\in V $ and let $\mathcal{M}=\bigoplus_{v\in V}\mathcal{M}_v $ be a matroid on $ A $ where $ \mathcal{M}_v $ is a finitary matroid on the ingoing edges of $ v $. We show that there is a system of edge-disjoint $ s \rightarrow t $ paths $ \mathcal{P} $ such that the united edge set of the paths is $ \mathcal{M} $-independent, and there is a $ C \subseteq A $ consists of one edge from each element of $ \mathcal{P} $ for which $ \mathsf{span}_{\mathcal{M}}(…
We introduce a connectivity function for infinite matroids with properties similar to the connectivity function of a finite matroid, such as submodularity and invariance under duality. As an application we use it to extend Tutte's linking theorem to finitary and to co-finitary matroids.
It has recently been shown that infinite matroids can be axiomatized in a way that is very similar to finite matroids and permits duality. This was previously thought impossible, since finitary infinite matroids must have non-finitary duals. In this paper we illustrate the new theory by exhibiting its implications for the cycle and bond matroids of infinite graphs. We also describe their algebraic cycle matroids, those whose circuits are the finite cycles and double rays, and determine their duals. Finally, we give a sufficient condition for a matroid to be representable in a sense adapted to …
We give axiomatic foundations for non-finitary infinite matroids with duality, in terms of independent sets, bases, circuits, closure and rank. This completes the solution to a problem of Rado of 1966.
We prove that if $ M $ and $ N $ are finitary matroids on a common countable edge set $ E $ then they admit a common independent set $I $ such that there is a bipartition $ E=E_{M}\cup E_{N} $ for which $ I\cap E_M $ spans $ E_M $ in $ M $ and $ I\cap E_N $ spans $ E_N $ in $ N $. It answers positively the Matroid Intersection Conjecture of Nash-Williams in the countable case.
Zaslavsky conjectures that the bounded complex of a simple hyperplane arrangement is homeomorphic to a ball. We prove this conjecture for the more general uniform affine oriented matroids.
In an unpublished manuscript of 1992, Johan Karlander has given an axiomatization of affine oriented matroids. A closer examination of the text revealed an invalid construction and an incorrect argument in the proof of his main theorem. This paper provides an alternative argument to fix and slightly simplify the proof of the main theorem.
An affine oriented matroid is a combinatorial abstraction of an affine hyperplane arrangement. From it, Novik, Postnikov and Sturmfels constructed a squarefree monomial ideal in a polynomial ring, called an oriented matroid ideal, and got beautiful results. Developing their theory, we will show the following. (1) If an oriented matroid ideal is Cohen-Macaulay, then the bounded complex (a regular CW complex associated with it) of the corresponding affine oriented matroid is a contractible homology manifold with boundary. This is closely related to Dong's theorem, which used to be "Zaslavsky's c…
Classical designs and their (projective) q-analogs can both be viewed as designs in matroids, using the matroid of all subsets of a set and the matroid of linearly independent subsets of a vector space, respectively. Another natural matroid is given by the point sets in general position of an affine space, leading to the concept of an affine design. Accordingly, a t-(n, k, $λ$) affine design of order q is a collection B of (k-1)-dimensional spaces in the affine geometry A = AG(n-1, q) such that each (t-1)-dimensional space in A is contained in exactly $λ$ spaces of B. In the case $λ$ = 1, as u…
This paper investigates the question of uniqueness of the reduced oriented matroid structure arising from root systems of a Coxeter group in real vector spaces. We settle the question for finite Coxeter groups, irreducible affine Weyl groups and all rank three Coxeter groups. In these cases, the oriented matroid structure is unique unless $W$ is of type $\widetilde{A}_n, n\geq 3$, in which case there are three possibilities.
We introduce the notion of real phase structure on rational polyhedral fans in Euclidean space. Such a structure consists of an assignment of affine spaces over $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$ to each top dimensional face of the fan subject to two conditions. Given an oriented matroid we can construct a real phase structure on the fan of the underlying matroid. Conversely, we show that from a real phase structure on a matroid fan we can produce an orientation of the underlying matroid. Thus real phase structures are cryptomorphic to matroid orientations. The topes of the orientated matroid are recove…
In 1908 Voronoi conjectured that every convex polytope which tiles space face-to-face by translations is affinely equivalent to the Dirichlet-Voronoi polytope of some lattice. In 1999 Erdahl proved this conjecture for the special case of zonotopes. A zonotope is a projection of a regular cube under some affine transformation. In 1975 McMullen showed several equivalent conditions for a zonotope to be a space tiling zonotope, i.e. a zonotope which admits a face-to-face tiling of space by translations. Implicitly, he related space tiling zonotopes to a special class of oriented matroids (regular …
We give two graph theoretical characterizations of tope graphs of (complexes of) oriented matroids. The first is in terms of excluded partial cube minors, the second is that all antipodal subgraphs are gated. A direct consequence is a third characterization in terms of zone graphs of tope graphs. Further corollaries include a characterization of topes of oriented matroids due to da Silva, another one of Handa, a characterization of lopsided systems due to Lawrence, and an intrinsic characterization of tope graphs of affine oriented matroids. Furthermore, we obtain polynomial time recognition a…
In his seminal 1983 paper, Jim Lawrence introduced lopsided sets and featured them as asymmetric counterparts of oriented matroids, both sharing the key property of strong elimination. Moreover, symmetry of faces holds in both structures as well as in the so-called affine oriented matroids. These two fundamental properties (formulated for covectors) together lead to the natural notion of "conditional oriented matroid" (abbreviated COM). These novel structures can be characterized in terms of three cocircuits axioms, generalizing the familiar characterization for oriented matroids. We describe …
We define a partial ordering on the set Q = Q(M) of pairs of topes of an oriented matroid M, and show the geometric realization |Q| of the order complex of Q has the same homotopy type as the Salvetti complex of M. For any element e of the ground set, the complex |Qe| associated to the rank-one oriented matroid on {e} has the homotopy type of the circle. There is a natural free simplicial action of Z4 on |Q|, with orbit space isomorphic to the order complex of the poset Q(M,e) associated to the pointed (or affine) oriented matroid (M,e). If M is the oriented matroid of an arrangement A of line…
Sublinear circuits are generalizations of the affine circuits in matroid theory, and they arise as the convex-combinatorial core underlying constrained non-negativity certificates of exponential sums and of polynomials based on the arithmetic-geometric inequality. Here, we study the polyhedral combinatorics of sublinear circuits for polyhedral constraint sets. We give results on the relation between the sublinear circuits and their supports and provide necessary as well as sufficient criteria for sublinear circuits. Based on these characterizations, we provide some explicit results and enumera…
