combinatorics

Matroid correspondence

arXiv:2607.13783

summary

The paper introduces matroid correspondences, a functorial framework linking matroids and polymatroids, and shows how standard matroid operations arise from it while preserving representability and algebraicity, with connections to Lorentzian polynomials and linear operators.

Abstract

Motivated by algebraic correspondences and linear operators associated with volume and Lorentzian polynomials, we introduce matroid correspondences and their polymatroid analogues. A matroid correspondence defines a functor between poset categories of matroids whose morphisms are matroid quotients, and various standard functors, including deletion, contraction, free extension, truncation, intersection, union, and pullback, arise in this way. We show that these correspondences preserve representability and algebraicity under natural hypotheses. In the polymatroid setting, we establish compatibility with multisymmetric lifts. Finally, we relate this construction to the supports of linear operators with Lorentzian symbols.

Topics & keywords

#matroid theory#polymatroids#algebraic combinatorics#Lorentzian polynomials#functorial constructions#linear operatorsmatroid correspondencematroid quotientrepresentabilityalgebraicitymultisymmetric liftsLorentzian symbols
Matroid correspondence · wovepaper