Combinatorial Derived Matroids

Let $M$ be an arbitrary matroid with circuits $\mathcal{C}(M)$. We propose a definition of a derived matroid $\delta M$ that has as its ground set $\mathcal{C}(M)$. Unlike previous attempts of such a definition, our definition applies to arbitrary matroids, and is completely combinatorial. We prove that the rank of $\delta M$ is bounded from above by $\mathrm{\mid }M\mathrm{\mid }-r(M)$, that it is connected if and only if $M$ is connected. We compute examples including the derived matroids of uniform matroids, the Vámos matroid and the graphical matroid $M(K_4)$. We formulate conjectures relating our construction to previous definitions of derived matroids.