Packing/covering conjecture for infinite matroid families
Let be a family of matroids on the same ground set . A packing consists of pairwise disjoint spanning sets, one for each , and a covering consists of independent sets in whose union covers . For , write for restriction, and for , write for contraction. Packing/covering conjecture. The ground set admits a partition
such that has a packing and has a covering. This conjecture is stated as equivalent to the matroid intersection conjecture and unifies the infinite base packing and base covering problems.
References
Primary source
Nathan Bowler and Johannes Carmesin, “Matroid intersection, base packing and base covering for infinite matroids”, arXiv:1202.3409 (2012).
Progress summary
Nothing recorded yet. Refresh searches the literature and the public web for attempts on this problem, and writes the first summary here.
Solutions 1
RemarkAI-assistedClaimed by OpenAI. Claims, in ZFC, two self-dual infinite matroids on a countably infinite common ground set with neither a packing/covering partition nor an intersection witness. The construction is partitional; failure of independent-set covering alone is not substituted for the full packing/covering conclusion.See full solution
Claimed by OpenAI.
Claims, in ZFC, two self-dual infinite matroids on a countably infinite common ground set with neither a packing/covering partition nor an intersection witness. The construction is partitional; failure of independent-set covering alone is not substituted for the full packing/covering conclusion.
GitHub repository: https://github.com/openai/math
- OpenAI-185-01-A-Counterexample-to-the-Infinite-Matroid-Packing-Covering-Conjecture.pdfOpen