A sharp bound on the size of a connected matroid (Q2723463)

Let \(M([n])\) be a connected matroid on the ground set \([n]=\{1,\dots, n\},\) \(n\geq 2.\) The authors prove: (1) If a largest circuit [resp. cocircuit] of \(M\) has \(c\) [resp. \(c^*\) ] elements, then \(n\leq {cc^* \over 2}.\) (2) For every \(e\in n,\) if the size of a largest circuit [resp. cocircuit] of \(M\) containing \(e\) is \(c_e\) [resp. \(c_e^*\)], then \(n\leq (c_e-1)(c_e^*-1)+1.\)NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEBoth these bounds are sharp. \((1)\) solves a problem raised by \textit{J. G. Oxley} [Bolyai Soc. Math. Stud. 7, 279-305 (1999; Zbl 0928.05056)] and settles a conjecture of \textit{J. E. Bonin, J. McNulty} and \textit{T. J. Reid} [Comb. Probab. Comput. 8, No. 3, 229-235 (1999; Zbl 0979.05031)]. A straightforward consequence of \((2)\) of independent interest is: (3) Let \(u\) and \(v\) be distinct vertices in a 2-connected loopless graph \(G.\) Then \(|E(G)|\) cannot exceed the product of the length of a longest \((u,v)\)-path and the size of a largest minimal edge-cut separating \(u\) from \(v.\)