Rota's Conjecture: Researcher solves 40-year-old math problem

Rota's Conjecture: Researcher solves 40-year-old math problem: Rota's Conjecture relates to a specialised area of mathematics known as matroid theory, a modern form of geometry, which Geoff specialises in.
Rather than focusing on distance and angles, matroid theory investigates properties of structures which don't change under projection—for example, whether or not three points are always on a line, or four points are on a plane.
The theory investigates geometric structures that can be completely different from those in our world, and Rota's Conjecture is a way of using mathematics to recognise these alternative structures.