Connectivity for matroids based on rough sets

In mathematics and computer science, connectivity is one of the basic concepts of matroid theory: it asks for the minimum number of elements which need to be removed to disconnect the remaining nodes from each other. It is closely related to the theory of network flow problems. The connectivity of a matroid is an important measure of its robustness as a network. Therefore, it is very necessary to investigate the conditions under which a matroid is connected. In this paper, the connectivity for matroids is studied through relation-based rough sets. First, a symmetric and transitive relation is introduced from a general matroid and its properties are explored from the viewpoint of matroids. Moreover, through the relation introduced by a general matroid, an undirected graph is generalized. Specifically, the connection of the graph can be investigated by the relation-based rough sets. Second, we study the connectivity for matroids by means of relation-based rough sets and some conditions under which a general matroid is connected are presented. Finally, it is easy to prove that the connectivity for a general matroid with some special properties and its induced undirected graph is equivalent. These results show an important application of relation-based rough sets to matroids.