Linear algebra. Essentials and applications (Q2375747)

This textbook on linear algebra (in German) by Peter Knabner and Wolf Barth is a comprehensive presentation of linear algebra and its many applications. The book addresses all students of mathematics and sciences independent of their specialization and aims at introducing linear algebra as a central means and language for almost any field of applied and pure mathematics. Apart from covering the standard material, the authors describe in many examples how to turn a real world problem into a mathematical model with linear structures and how to apply the theory in order to understand and eventually solve the problem. Examples include applications in physics, mechanics, electrical engineering, geometry, finance. Beyond that, the authors illustrate the relations between linear algebra and other fields of mathematics such as geometry, optimization, and numerical analysis. Special topics include affine geometry, infinite-dimensional vector spaces, spectral analysis, linear differential equations, general \(K\)-vector spaces and algebraic structures, linear and quadratic programming/optimization, simplex algorithm, LU-decomposition, pseudo inverse, and singular value decomposition. For some algorithms of linear algebra the authors even work out the details of computer implementations in MATLAB. It is a good book to learn the concepts of linear algebra, where linear structures appear in applications, and how to apply linear algebra to solve problems algorithmically. Moreover, the book serves a general reference work. Table of contents: Real numbers and the notion of real vector spaces. Matrices and linear maps. From real vector spaces to general \(K\)-vector spaces: algebraic structures. Eigenvalues and normal forms of matrices. Bilinear forms and quadrics. Polyhedrons and linear optimization. Linear algebra and analysis. Applications of linear algebra.