A Mathematical Medley

Matroids are abstract objects that generalise a phenomenon found in linear algebra and graph theory. For every group there is a corresponding class of so-called gain-graphic matroids, arising from graphs with edges labelled by group elements. I am interested in the power of monadic logic to characterise classes of gain-graphic matroids. This has led me, surprisingly, to the Burnside problem for groups. This talk will contain an introduction to matroid theory.