Semidirect sums of matroids
For matroids \(M\) and \(N\) on disjoint sets \(S\) and \(T\), a semidirect sum of \(M\) and \(N\) is any matroid \(K\) on \(S \cup T\) that, like the direct sum and the free product, has the restriction \(K|S\) equal to \(M\) and the contraction \(K/S\) equal to \(N\). We abstract a matrix construction to get a general matroid construction: the matroid union of any rank-preserving extension of \(M\) on the set \(S \cup T\) with the direct sum of \(N\) and the rank-0 matroid on \(S\) is a semidirect sum of \(M\) and \(N\). We study principal sums in depth; these are such matroid unions where the extension of \(M\) has each element of \(T\) added either as a loop or freely on a fixed flat of \(M\). A second construction of semidirect sums, defined by a Higgs lift, also specializes to principal sums. We also explore what can be deduced if \(M\) and \(N\), or certain of their semidirect sums, are transversal or fundamental transversal matroids.
scientific article