The structure of 2-separations of infinite matroids

Abstract

Generalizing a well known theorem for finite matroids, we prove that for every (infinite) connected matroid M there is a unique tree T such that the nodes of T correspond to minors of M that are either 3-connected or circuits or cocircuits, and the edges of T correspond to certain nested 2-separations of M. These decompositions are invariant under duality.