A unique factorization theorem for matroids

DOI10.1016/J.JCTA.2005.02.004zbMATH Open1076.05020arXivmath/0409099OpenAlexW2003601926MaRDI QIDQ2575804FDOQ2575804

Yanyan Li

Publication date: 6 December 2005

Published in: Journal of Combinatorial Theory. Series A (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We study the combinatorial, algebraic and geometric properties of the free product operation on matroids. After giving cryptomorphic definitions of free product in terms of independent sets, bases, circuits, closure, flats and rank function, we show that free product, which is a noncommutative operation, is associative and respects matroid duality. The free product of matroids $M$ and $N$ is maximal with respect to the weak order among matroids having $M$ as a submatroid, with complementary contraction equal to $N$. Any minor of the free product of $M$ and $N$ is a free product of a repeated truncation of the corresponding minor of $M$ with a repeated Higgs lift of the corresponding minor of $N$. We characterize, in terms of their cyclic flats, matroids that are irreducible with respect to free product, and prove that the factorization of a matroid into a free product of irreducibles is unique up to isomorphism. We use these results to determine, for K a field of characteristic zero, the structure of the minor coalgebra $calC$ of a family of matroids $calM$ that is closed under formation of minors and free products: namely, $calC$ is cofree, cogenerated by the set of irreducible matroids belonging to $calM$.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0409099

zbMATH Keywords

Free algebraFree productCofree coalgebraMinor coalgebra

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Exact enumeration problems, generating functions (05A15) Combinatorial aspects of matroids and geometric lattices (05B35) Algebraic aspects of posets (06A11) Free nonassociative algebras (17A50)

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Cited In (14)

• Connectivity gaps among matroids with the same enumerative invariants
• A matroid-friendly basis for the quasisymmetric functions
• A quasisymmetric function for matroids
• A characterization of positroids, with applications to amalgams and excluded minors
• The intersection ring of matroids
• The free product of M-fuzzifying matroids1
• Splicing matroids
• Weighted quasisymmetric enumerator for generalized permutohedra
• The \(\mathcal{G}\)-invariant and catenary data of a matroid
• Symmetric and quasi-symmetric functions associated to polymatroids
• Primitive elements in the matroid-minor Hopf algebra
• A decomposition theory for matroids. V: Testing of matrix total unimodularity
• On the asymptotic proportion of connected matroids
• Semidirect sums of matroids

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