Tutte (1961) proved the chain theorem for 3-connected graphs with respect
to minors, which states that every 3-connected graph G has a 3-connected
minor with one vertex fewer than G, unless G is a wheel graph. Bouchet
(1987) proved an analog for prime graphs with respect to vertex-minors. We
present a chain theorem for higher connectivity with respect to vertex-minors,
showing that every sequentially 3-rank-connected graph G has a sequentially
3-rank-connected vertex-minor with one vertex fewer than G, unless
∣V(G)∣≤12.Comment: 21 page