Unavoidable flats in GF(q)-representable matroids

Abstract

We show that, for any finite field $\mathbb{F}$ and positive integer $k$, a simple $\mathbb{F}$-representable matroid $M$ with sufficiently high rank contains a rank-$k$ flat which is either independent in $M$, or is a projective or affine geometry over a subfield of $\mathbb{F}$. This generalizes a result for matroids representable over prime fields due to the first two authors. As a corollary, we obtain a Ramsey theorem for matroids representable over a finite field $\mathbb{F}$. For an integer $k$, in any $2$-colouring of the points of an $\mathbb{F}$-representable matroid of sufficiently high rank, there is a monochromatic rank-$k$ flat.