BookAuthors: Harvey E. Rose (2002)
In algebra, an entity is called linear if it can be expressed in terms of addition, and multiplication by a scalar; a linear expression is a sum of scalar multiples of the entities under consideration. Also, an operation is called linear if it preserves addition, and multiplication by a scalar. For example, if A and Bare 2 x 2 real matrices, v is a (row) vector in the real plane, and c is a real number, then v(A + B) = vA + vB and (cv)A = c(vA), that is, the process of applying a matrix to a vector is linear. Linear Algebra is the study of properties and systems which preserve these two operations, and the following pages present the basic theory and results of this important branch of pure mathematics. There are many books on linear algebra in the bookshops and libraries of the wor...