The moduli space of matroids

DOI10.1016/J.AIM.2021.107883MaRDI QIDQ822693zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 23 September 2021

Published in Advances in Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.03542

moduli spaces hyperfield Idylls ordered blueprints tract

Grassmannians, Schubert varieties, flag manifolds (14M15) Combinatorial aspects of matroids and geometric lattices (05B35)

Abstract: In the first part of the paper, we clarify the connections between several algebraic objects appearing in matroid theory: both partial fields and hyperfields are fuzzy rings, fuzzy rings are tracts, and these relations are compatible with the respective matroid theories. Moreover, fuzzy rings are ordered blueprints and lie in the intersection of tracts with ordered blueprints; we call the objects of this intersection pastures. In the second part, we construct moduli spaces for matroids over pastures. We show that, for any non-empty finite set

E

, the functor taking a pasture

F

to the set of isomorphism classes of rank-

r

F

-matroids on

E

is representable by an ordered blue scheme

M a t (r, E)

, the moduli space of rank-

r

matroids on

E

. In the third part, we draw conclusions on matroid theory. A classical rank-

r

matroid

M

on

E

corresponds to a

m a t h b b K

-valued point of

M a t (r, E)

where

m a t h b b K

is the Krasner hyperfield. Such a point defines a residue pasture

k_{M}

, which we call the universal pasture of

M

. We show that for every pasture

F

, morphisms

k_{M} o F

are canonically in bijection with

F

-matroid structures on

M

. An analogous weak universal pasture

k_{M}^{w}

classifies weak

F

-matroid structures on

M

. The unit group of

k_{M}^{w}

can be canonically identified with the Tutte group of

M

. We call the sub-pasture

k_{M}^{f}

of

k_{M}^{w}

generated by ``cross-ratios' the foundation of

M

,. It parametrizes rescaling classes of weak

F

-matroid structures on

M

, and its unit group is coincides with the inner Tutte group of

M

. We show that a matroid

M

is regular if and only if its foundation is the regular partial field, and a non-regular matroid

M

is binary if and only if its foundation is the field with two elements. This yields a new proof of the fact that a matroid is regular if and only if it is both binary and orientable.

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