Algebraic Matroids
Given a field extension L/K, Zorn's lemma can be used to show that there always exists a maximal algebraically independent subset of L over K. Further, all the maximal algebraically independent subsets have the same cardinality, known as the transcendence degree of the extension.
For every set S of elements of L, the algebraically independent subsets of S satisfy the axioms that define the independent sets of a matroid. In this matroid, the rank of a set of elements is its transcendence degree, and the flat generated by a set T of elements is the intersection of L with the field K. A matroid that can be generated in this way is called an algebraic matroid. No good characterization of algebraic matroids is known, but certain matroids are known to be non-algebraic; the smallest is the Vámos matroid.
Many finite matroids may be represented by a matrix over a field K, in which the matroid elements correspond to matrix columns, and a set of elements is independent if the corresponding set of columns is linearly independent. Every matroid with a linear representation of this type may also be represented as an algebraic matroid, by choosing an indeterminate for each row of the matrix, and by using the matrix coefficients within each column to assign each matroid element a linear combination of these transcendentals. The converse is false: not every algebraic matroid has a linear representation.
Read more about this topic: Algebraic Independence
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