In combinatorics, a branch of mathematics, a matroid ( /ˈmeɪtrɔɪd/) or independence structure is a structure that captures and generalizes the notion of linear independence in vector spaces.
There are many equivalent ways to define a matroid, a phenomenon sometimes called cryptomorphism. Significant definitions of matroid include those in terms of independent sets, bases, circuits, closed sets or flats, closure operators, and rank functions.
Matroid theory borrows extensively from the terminology of linear algebra and graph theory, largely because it is the abstraction of various notions of central importance in these fields.
Read more about Matroid: Additional Terminology, Polynomial Invariants, Infinite Matroids, History, Researchers