Matrices, geometry, linear algebra

affine transformation circular functions eigenvalue problem geometry affine Euclidean linear algebra matrix matrix exponential function spherical functions

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to linear algebra (15-01) Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to geometry (51-01)

Review text

The present work is an excellent French translation of the Lothringian author's German textbook ``Matrizen, Geometrie, Lineare Algebra, Basel (1996; Zbl 0847.51001). According to its preface this French edition may -- in particular -- be useful for undergraduate students as a complementary textbook on Linear Algebra and Elementary Geometry, offering an approach ``leading from the special to the general thus being quite different from N. Bourbaki's deductive method and abstract point of view (see remark (36) on pages 521-522) which is part of traditional French teaching programs. In comparison with the German edition there are some changes which are not announced in the preface: (1) some misprints have been corrected (e.g. on page 214, remark (9): ``C. Reid (1970) instead of ``C. Reid (1870)); (2) the number of pages has increased by \(11\%\) because of smaller page dimensions; (3) there are additional references/remarks concerning subjects like ``l'application directrice d'une transformation affine (p. 152/p. 177: (1)), ``série formelle (p. 340: exemple a)/p. 349-350: (5)), and ``éspace de colonnes (p. 359/p. 376: (1)); (4) in chapter D on ``Linear Algebra (from the general point of view) a new section D 5.12 on ``Petits poissons rouges rêvant de grandeur infinie (pages 509-513) has been added, dealing with infinite-dimensional vector spaces V, the axiom of choice, linearly independent subsets of V and their bases.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEA short survey of the contents of the book (cf. the report in (1996; Zbl 0847.51001) on its German forerunner, too) can be given by keywords as follows: The main part of the book consists of the chapters A ``Matrices (matrix product, ``Fang-cheng algorithm = Gaussian elimination, determinants, eigenvalue problem) and the chapters B/C ``Geometry/Analysis (vector calculus, axioms of elementary geometry, 2- and 3-dimensional Euclidean and affine geometry, affine transformations / arc length of a circle, rotations, isometries, circular functions, complex numbers, fields and polynomials), leading altogether to chapter D which presents ``Linear Algebra from a more general point of view (spaces of column vectors, \(n\)-dimensional affine spaces, linear inequalities and convex polyhedra, quadratic forms, affine and Euclidean theory of hyperquadrics, abstract Linear Algebra). Projective geometry is not dealt with systematically, only a few of its notions and ideas appear in the context of historical remarks (referring to Gaspard Monge, Jean Victor Poncelet, Felix Klein) in section B 3.16 on ``Groups and Geometry (p. 173-176). The work is rounded off by the final chapter E ``Appendix (sets and numbers, spectral representations of quadratic matrices and rationality, matrix exponential function, eigenvalues and eigenvectors of Hermitian matrices, spherical functions) which is followed by a rich collection of ``Exercises on the material of the chapters A-D.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINESome suggestions for correction/improvement: On p. 458, the statement about a norm ``On a toujours \(|u+v|\leq|u|+|v|\), avec égalité si et seulement si \(u\) et \(v\) sont proportionnels is wrong (consider the case \(v=-2u\neq 0\), e.g.!) -- the correct formulation should be like in section B1.10, Théorème b) (p. 121); on page 353, the first names of (14) ``Henri Weber and (16) ``Ernest Steinitz should be replaced by their German originals ``Heinrich and ``Ernst, respectively; the historical remarks sometimes present vague suggestions and allusions which cannot be understood easily -- e.g., on page 178, (9) the person meant in ``pour le journal d'Adolf can be identified only by examining closely the Index providing the hint ``Hitler, A., 178 (p. 699). NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEAltogether, the present work is an interesting, extraordinary, individual text- and reading-book -- for beginners and for advanced readers, as well -- presenting a well considered, inspiring introduction of the essential material of Linear Algebra and Geometry. Besides, the people who developed all this become visible clearly, and the ways how they made their discoveries or errors are illustrated in an excellent way by 45 (full-page) portraits of famous mathematicians and numerous remarks on the historical background.

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