A decomposition theorem for the linking polynomial of two matroids (Q2467739)

In his previous work with \textit{D. J. A. Welsh} [Adv. Appl. Math. 32, 391--419 (2004; Zbl 1041.05020)] the author has defined a \textit{linking polynomial} of two matroids. Namely, let \(M\) and \(N\) be two matroids on the same ground set \(E\) with rank functions \(r\) and \(s\) correspondingly. Then the linking polynomial is defined as \[ Q(M,N;x,y,u,v) = \sum_{X \subseteq E} (x-1)^{r(E)-r(X)}(y-1)^{| X| -r(X)}(u-1)^{s(E)-s(X)}(v-1)^{| X| -s(X)}. \] Note that if one sets \(u=v=2\) one recovers the usual Tutte polynomial \(T(M;x,y)\) of \(M\). In a work of \textit{W. Kook, V. Reiner} and \textit{D. Stanton} [J. Comb. Theory Ser. B, 76, 297--300 (1999; Zbl 0936.05028)] it is shown that the Tutte polynomial of a matroid can be decomposed into coloring factor and flow factor as follows: \[ T(M;x,y) = \sum_{X \subset E} T(M| X;0,y) T(M/X;x,0), \] where \(M| X\) denotes restriction and \(M/X\) denotes contraction. Furthermore, It suffices to take the sum only over the \textit{cyclic flats} of \(M\). In this paper the following generalization of the latter formula is proved: \[ Q(M,N;x,y,u,v)= \sum_{X \subseteq E} Q(M| X,N| X;0,y,2,v) Q(M/X,N/X;x,0,u,2), \] where again the summation may be taken over properly generalized \textit{cyclic flats} of the pair \((M,N)\). The original formula can be derived from this generalization.