How many circuits determine an oriented matroid? (Q1786051)

This paper considers the number of circuits needed to determine an oriented matroid among all oriented matroids with the same underlying matroid. The authors define three different quantities for a connected orientable matroid in order to investigate the number of circuits needed to determine it. General bounds are given by introducing the notion of weak and connected covering. The relationship between uniform oriented matroids and design theory in a general framework is studied. The values for the graphic and cographic matroids associated to complete graphs and hypercubes are calculated.