Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/combinatorial-optimisation/2/c/iv/solution

Since is a maximal matroid independent set in , augmentation gives . For any , the rank of a matroid of equals that of . Indeed, if , either is independent and has the largest possible size , or it is dependent and is still maximal in : no element of can be added, and neither can . If , both ranks are simply .
Consequently if and only if , which proves for the closure of a matroid.

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