Generating weakly 4-connected matroids (Q2483478)

A matroid \(M\) is said to be 4-connected up to separators of size \(\ell\) if \(M\) is 3-connected and, for each 3-separation \((X,Y)\) of \(M\), either \(| X| \leq \ell\) or \(| Y| \leq \ell\). Thus a matroid \(M\) is internally 4-connected if it is 4-connected up to separators of size 3. A matroid \(M\) is weakly 4-connected if \(M\) is 4-connected up to separators of size 4. The authors prove results analogous to the Wheels and Whirls theorem of \textit{W.T. Tutte} [Can. J. Math. 18, 1301--1324 (1966; Zbl 0149.21501)]: Let \(M\) be a 3-connected matroid with at least one element. If \(M\) is neither a wheel nor a whirl, then \(M\) has an element \(e\) such that either \(M\setminus e\) or \(M / e\) is 3-connected. The authors' main theorem is the following. Let \(M\) be a weakly 4-connected matroid with \(| E(M)| \geq 7\). Then either \(\bullet\) there exists \(e \in E(M)\) such that \(M \setminus e\) or \(M/e\) is weakly 4-connected, \(\bullet\) \(M\) has a 4-element 3-separating set \(A\) with elements \(c,d\in A\) such that \(M\setminus d/c\) is weakly 4-connected, \(\bullet\) \(M\) or \(M^*\) is isomorphic to the cycle matroid of a ladder, or \(\bullet\) \(| E(M)| =12\) and \(M\) is a trident.