An Introduction to Linear Algebra and Tensors, Revised Edition - Softcover

M. A. Akivis; V. V. Goldberg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486635457 ISBN 13: 9780486635453

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2010

Synopsis

The present book, a valuable addition to the English-language literature on linear algebra and tensors, constitutes a lucid, eminently readable and completely elementary introduction to this field of mathematics. A special merit of the book is its free use of tensor notation, in particular the Einstein summation convention. The treatment is virtually self-contained. In fact, the mathematical background assumed on the part of the reader hardly exceeds a smattering of calculus and a casual acquaintance with determinants.
The authors begin with linear spaces, starting with basic concepts and ending with topics in analytic geometry. They then treat multilinear forms and tensors (linear and bilinear forms, general definition of a tensor, algebraic operations on tensors, symmetric and antisymmetric tensors, etc.), and linear transformation (again basic concepts, the matrix and multiplication of linear transformations, inverse transformations and matrices, groups and subgroups, etc.). The last chapter deals with further topics in the field: eigenvectors and eigenvalues, matrix ploynomials and the Hamilton-Cayley theorem, reduction of a quadratic form to canonical form, representation of a nonsingular transformation, and more. Each individual section — there are 25 in all — contains a problem set, making a total of over 250 problems, all carefully selected and matched. Hints and answers to most of the problems can be found at the end of the book.
Dr. Silverman has revised the text and numerous pedagogical and mathematical improvements, and restyled the language so that it is even more readable. With its clear exposition, many relevant and interesting problems, ample illustrations, index and bibliography, this book will be useful in the classroom or for self-study as an excellent introduction to the important subjects of linear algebra and tensors.

About this title

About the Author:

Maks A. Akivis is Professor of Mathematics at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, and at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys in Russia.
Vladislav V. Goldberg is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.
Dr. Akivis and Dr. Goldberg are the authors of numerous papers, many of which they wrote jointly. They are the authors of the book Tensor Calculus and the monograph Projective Differential Geometry of Submanifolds. In addition, Dr. Akivis is a coauthor of the monograph Geometry and Algebra of Multidimensional Three-Webs and the book Elie Cartan (1869-1951), and Dr. Goldberg is the author of the monograph Theory of Multicodimensional (n+1)-Webs.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0486635457
• ISBN 13: 9780486635453
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192