A matroidal perspective on the tropical Prym variety

Abstract

We associate a matroid $M(\widetilde{\Gamma}/\Gamma)$ to a harmonic double cover $\pi:\widetilde{\Gamma}\to \Gamma$ of metric graphs. The matroid $M(\widetilde{\Gamma}/\Gamma)$ is a geometric interpretation of Zaslavsky's signed graphic matroid. We show that the principalization $\mathrm{Prym}_p(\widetilde{\Gamma}/\Gamma)$ of the tropical Prym variety of the double cover can be reconstructed from $M(\widetilde{\Gamma}/\Gamma)$, equipped with certain additional decorations. We describe the simplification of the matroid $M(\widetilde{\Gamma}/\Gamma)$ and show that the Prym variety does not change under simplification.