Linear algebra. (Q5970173)

This book provides a rigorous introduction to linear algebra based on the vector space approach and is intended as a text for honours students of mathematics or statistics and also as a reference source for scientists in various other disciplines. The chapter headings are: 0. Preliminaries, 1. Vector spaces, 2. Algebra of matrices, 3. Rank and inverse, 4. Elementary operations and reduced forms, 5. Linear equations, 6. Determinants, 7. Inner product and orthogonality, 8. Eigenvalues, 9. Quadratic forms. Also included are several topics not usually found in introductory texts, like rank factorization, generalized inverses and singular value decomposition, and some more advanced topics like quotient spaces, rank and nullity of linear transformations, spectral representation of a semisimple matrix, the Jordan canonical form, and Hermitian forms. Special attention is paid to the underlying field: Chapters 1 to 6 are valid for any field while in the remaining ones only the real or complex numbers are considered. Many examples are incorporated into the text, and large sections of exercises, both numerical and theoretical, are included at the ends of sections. Hints are provided for the harder ones, and hints and solutions for the rest are given at the end of the book. With its comprehensive coverage this book meets the requirements of the advanced undergraduate and is very well suited as a course textbook.