Questions tagged [linear-algebra]
For questions about linear algebra, a mathematical field studying vector spaces and matrices.
39
questions
4
votes
0answers
117 views
Who bet against the usefulness of matrix inversion – or is it a myth?
In my linear-algebra and numerics courses, I frequently heard an anecdote about some professor betting – literally, with money – that there would never be any application where computing the actual ...
2
votes
0answers
63 views
Origin of Lang's proof of the Cayley-Hamilton theorem
Is the proof of the Cayley-Hamilton theorem given by Serge Lang in Algebra (page 561) an original one, or has it been borrowed from some earlier sources? Who came up with it first?
(Lang's proof is ...
2
votes
2answers
200 views
Why were the matrix multiplication rules chosen this way?
The currently standard matrix multiplication is isomorphic to split-quaternions (for 2x2 matrices, and similar for higher ranks, maybe this is called Clifford algebras). As such, the sets of square ...
1
vote
0answers
67 views
Why are linear forms called "forms"?
My question is about linear forms, quadratic forms, n-linear forms, differential forms and so on. The first term of these names seem clear to me, but I cannot make a link between these mathematical ...
3
votes
0answers
142 views
The origins of $\det(I+AB)=\det(I+BA)$
I am looking for the earliest published source that gives and perhaps proves the identity $\det(I+AB)=\det(I+BA)$ where $A$ and $B$ are just rectangular matrices of finite dimensions (as opposed to ...
0
votes
0answers
72 views
What is the earliest article in which Leibniz used 'matrices'?
The Chinese were using matrices ( fengcheng in the Nine Chapters of the Mathematical Art), long before they were used in Europe which suggests that possibly they were introduced by way of them. For ...
6
votes
1answer
274 views
Origin of Tensor Product
When and why did Mathematicians saw a need to define Tensor Products?
I want to know the historical development of the idea "Tensor Product"?
1
vote
0answers
64 views
Research about Stafford Beer's claim about a method for solving simultaneous equations unknowingly via a game by kids?
I found this claim in the book "How many grapes went into the wine", in the Artorga section:
In 1956 I devised a game for solving simultaneous linear equations in two variables. The theory ...
2
votes
0answers
112 views
Interpretation of a short note of Gauss on the resolution of a special system of inhomogeneous linear equations by roots of unity
My question refers to a 2-pages fragment of Gauss, entitled: "Note on the resolution of a special system of linear equations", which is found on pages 30-31 of volume 8 of his works. In this ...
2
votes
3answers
276 views
What problem was solved by introducing the dimension of a vector space?
In linear algebra, we care a lot about dimensions. I get why it’s useful but not why it’s such a big deal. So I wondered what problem was solved historically by introducing a rigorous definition of ...
4
votes
0answers
177 views
Why did Jordan introduce his canonical form?
Camille Jordan's famous canonical form for matrices over algebraically closed fields, is considered an important result nowadays, commonly taught to all students of mathematics in undergraduate linear ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
Who introduced the "dagger"symbol as conjugate transpose in quantum mechanics?
The $\dagger$ symbol is often used in quantum mechanics,and also often in general mathematics to represent the conjugate transpose operation.For Hermitian matrices we can write $$A^\dagger=A$$Who ...
4
votes
2answers
142 views
Have orthogonal complex matrices appeared in the literature?
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthogonal_matrix,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_matrix, and
Friedberg et al.'s Linear Algebra (4th edition), a matrix $A\in F^{n\times n}$
is ...
1
vote
1answer
117 views
Why positive definite matrix rather than positively definite matrix? [duplicate]
"Positive definite matrix" is a standard term in mathematics, espeically linear algebra. Are there grammatical, linguistic, or historical reasons why it was not called "positively definite matrix"?
7
votes
2answers
232 views
Why do we call it a "positive definite matrix" rather than a "positively definite matrix"?
The term positive definite matrix is a standard one used in mathematics, especially in linear algebra.
Are there grammatical, linguistic, or historical reasons why it was not called a positively ...
14
votes
1answer
1k views
Who started calling the matrix multiplication "multiplication"?
As I searched for linear algebra, I found it odd that the linear map composition corresponds to the multiplication of matrices. Considering the intuition that the repetition of addition is ...
7
votes
1answer
514 views
Who invented the gradient descent algorithm?
In connection to the question "Who invented the gradient?", I want to know who invented the gradient descent algorithm?
2
votes
1answer
76 views
Jordan's Paper on the Jordan Canonical Form
In which paper, did Jordan introduce/prove the Jordan canonical form?
0
votes
1answer
132 views
How to understand `After quantum mechanics, nature itself suddenly became linear`?
How to understand Freeman Dyson's Saying:
After quantum mechanics, nature itself suddenly became linear.
5
votes
1answer
311 views
First appearance of tensor product symbol $\otimes$
I was asked recently if the tensor product symbol $\otimes$ had been used before Bourbaki's publication on multilinear algebra in 1948 (a draft of this document can be seen at http://sites.mathdoc.fr/...
0
votes
1answer
113 views
Invention of matrix symbols
Who first did use the symbol $\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 2 \\ 3 & 4 \end{bmatrix}$ for a matrix and similarly $\begin{pmatrix} 1 & 2 \\ 3 & 4 \end{pmatrix}$?
Why do these two ...
3
votes
2answers
211 views
Where did block matrix multiplication appear?
I am curious about who first noticed that block matrices can be multiplied blockwise.
There is a section about matrices partitioned into submatrices that describes block matrix multiplication in "An ...
3
votes
1answer
213 views
Why is the term "kernel" used in algebra? [duplicate]
What was the motivation to use the word "kernel" in algebra to denote the set of all arguments which are mapped to the idendity element (by a homomorphism)? Who introduced it?
5
votes
2answers
319 views
Binet-Cauchy or Cauchy-Binet?
The Cauchy-Binet formula in linear algebra gives the determinant of a square matrix $AB$ for rectangular matrices $A,B$ of appropriate shape in terms of the determinants of the submatrices of $A,B$. (...
4
votes
3answers
933 views
Motivation for the development of modern linear algebra
In many text books on linear algebra one of the most important applications is geometry in Euclidean spaces and therefore there seems to be the impression that linear algebra was developed in order to ...
8
votes
1answer
4k views
Where does the name eigenvalue come from?
Who introduced the concept of eigenvalues and eigenvectors and where does the name come from? Is there a connection with the German word "eigen"?
4
votes
2answers
557 views
Grassmann Formula
I'm in my first year of Mathematics at the University. Recently, we've learnt about Grassmann Formula and when I was making a little research on the internet, I couldn't find a single reference ...
4
votes
2answers
921 views
Who discovered the Jordan normal form?
In the paper by A. J. Coleman, "The greatest mathematical paper of all time"
(Math Intelligencer, 11, no. 3 (1989), 29-39), on page 30 there is a passing remark
that the "Jordan form is due to ...
7
votes
5answers
614 views
Were matrix theory and functional analysis well-known to physicists before the invention of matrix mechanics?
Were matrix theory and analysis well-known to physicists circa 1920-1925? Did physicists make extended use of this theory in that period? The question is related to the discussion in How did ...
4
votes
1answer
256 views
Did Leibniz sketch a design for a machine capable of solving a system of linear equations?
My question is based on the information on pages 108-109 of the book The Tangled Origins of the Leibnizian Calculus. I know that Leibniz
invented the stepped drum and used it to build the stepped ...
0
votes
0answers
179 views
What questions led Cayley to the definition of matrix multiplication?
quote:
every book I've seen on matrix algebra or linear algebra seem[s] to just define the matrix operations without providing any historical background
Talk:Matrix multiplication - Wikipedia, the ...
6
votes
2answers
352 views
How did the exterior product get its symbol?
As per the title: where did the notation $a\wedge b$ for the exterior product of $a$ and $b$ originate, and/or who popularised it? I'm especially interested in motivation for the choice of this symbol ...
1
vote
0answers
281 views
Need information about the history of the Hotelling and Bodewig method
I need information about Hotelling and Bodewig, who they were and why they developed this method. anything will help, references to articles, links, or any other information.
Link to the method: http:...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
The terminologies "Adjoint" and "Adjugate"
The adjoint of a matrix is also called the adjugate.
However, the word "adjoint" is also used in Linear Algebra for linear transformations, and the "adjoint of a matrix" and "adjoint of a linear map"...
7
votes
3answers
668 views
Why do we call a linear mapping "linear mapping"?
According with the book Classic Algebra by P.M.Cohn for historical reasons we call a linear mapping "linear mapping".
What are the historical reasons that created the term "linear mapping"?
11
votes
2answers
538 views
What came first? The kernel from vector spaces or from group theory?
In studying vector spaces we learn about linear transformations from one vector space to another and in particular the kernel of such a transformation. When learning about group theory we also learn ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
History of the inverse matrix
I know the definition and the procedure to calculate the inverse of a matrix, but I want to know the history of starting the idea of an inverse matrix. mathematicians must have faced a real life ...
7
votes
1answer
372 views
Gauss accused of witchcraft: apocryphal?
I recall reading years ago in a linear algebra book that Gauss was accused of witchcraft for his (re)discovery of what we now call the row reduction algorithm for solving linear equations. Has anyone ...
19
votes
4answers
2k views
Books on the history of linear algebra
I'm quite desperate to understand the historical motivation and origin of all of the "geometrical" concepts of linear algebra, namely:
The concept of thinking of elements of $\mathbb R^n$ or some ...
