Modulus for bases of matroids

Abstract

In this work, we explore the application of modulus in matroid theory, specifically, the modulus of the family of bases of matroids. This study not only recovers various concepts in matroid theory, including the strength, fractional arboricity, and principal partitions, but also offers new insights. In the process, we introduce the concept of a Beurling set. Additionally, our study revisits and provides an alternative approach to two of Edmonds's theorems related to the base packing and base covering problems. This is our stepping stone for establishing Fulkerson modulus duality for the family of bases. Finally, we provide a relationship between the base modulus of matroids and their dual matroids, and a complete understanding of the base p-modulus across all values of p.