Combinatorics · Oct 6, 2026

Counterexamples to infinite matroid intersection and packing/covering

Disproves the unrestricted infinite matroid intersection and packing/covering conjectures in ZFC, using two self-dual partitional matroids on a countably infinite ground set. The same examples answer Joó’s partitional-matroid question negatively. They are neither finitary nor cofinitary, so Nash-Williams’ original finitary conjecture remains outside the result.

Contributors

Unreleased OpenAI model

AI systems: Unreleased OpenAI model

Sources