Splitting formulas for Tutte polynomials

We present two splitting formulas for calculating the Tutte polynomial of a matroid. The first one is for a generalized parallel connection across a 3-point line of two matroids and the second one is applicable to a 3-sum of two matroids. An important tool used is the bipointed Tutte polynomial of a matroid, an extension of the pointed Tutte polynomial introduced by Brylawski. (C) 1997 Academic Press.