Rank-three matroids are Rayleigh (Q2571301)

The Rayleigh monotonicity property of linear resistive electrical networks states that in a network composed of positive linear conductances, the effective conductance of the network as a whole cannot decrease if the conductance of an element increases. A Rayleigh matroid is one which satisfies a set of inequalities analogous to the Rayleigh monotonicity property of linear resistive electrical networks. The author shows that every matroid of rank (at most) three is Rayleigh. This answers a question left open by Choe and Wagner in \textit{Rayleigh matroids} (to appear). There are known rank four matroids that are not Rayleigh. In addition to showing every matroid of rank (at most) three is Rayleigh, the author proves a reduction lemma which may be useful in the study of Rayleigh matrices of rank four or more.