Hicks, Illya V.2013-03-082013-03-082012Arellano, John David. "Cocircuits of vector matroids." (2012) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70203">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70203</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70203In this thesis, I present a set covering problem (SCP) formulation of the matroid cogirth problem, finding the cardinality of the smallest cocircuit of a matroid. Addressing the matroid cogirth problem can lead to significantly enhancing the design process of sensor networks. The solution to the matroid cogirth problem provides the degree of redundancy of the corresponding sensor network, and allows for the evaluation of the quality of the network. I provide an introduction to matroids, and their relation to the degree of redundancy problem. I also discuss existing methods developed to solve the matroid cogirth problem and the SCP. Computational results are provided to validate a branch-and-cut algorithm that addresses the SCP formulation.59 p.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Applied sciencesApplied mathematicsOperations researchThesisArellanoJTHESIS MATH.SCI. 2012 ARELLANO