The connected binary matroids with a pair of elements in no non-spanning circuits

Abstract

Let $M$ be a simple connected binary matroid, and let $e$ and $f$ be distinct elements of $M$. It is well known that, when the only circuits containing $e$ are spanning, $M$ is a circuit with at least three elements. This paper proves that if every circuit containing $\{e,f\}$ is spanning, then the canonical tree decomposition of $M$ is a path in which each vertex is labeled by a circuit, a copy of $U_{1,3}$, or a binary spike having one non-tip element deleted.

8 pages, 1 figure