On the proportion of metric matroids whose Jacobians have nontrivial p-torsion

Abstract

We study the proportion of metric matroids whose Jacobians have nontrivial p-torsion. We establish a correspondence between these Jacobians and the $F_p$-rational points on configuration hypersurfaces, thereby relating their proportions. By counting points over finite fields, we prove that the proportion of these Jacobians is asymptotically equivalent to $1/p$.