Abstract 3-Rigidity and Bivariate $C_2^1$-Splines I: Whiteley's Maximality Conjecture

A long-standing conjecture in rigidity theory states that the generic 3-dimensional rigidity matroid is the unique maximal abstract 3-rigidity matroid (with respect to the weak order on matroids). Based on a close similarity between the generic 3-dimensional rigidity matroid and the generic $C_2^1$-cofactor matroid from approximation theory, Whiteley made an analogous conjecture in 1996 that the generic $C_2^1$-cofactor matroid is the unique maximal abstract 3-rigidity matroid. We verify Whiteley's conjecture in this paper. A key step in our proof is to verify a second conjecture of Whiteley that the `double V-replacement operation' preserves independence in the generic $C_2^1$-cofactor matroid.