Invitation to Linear Algebra: (Textbooks in Mathematics)

Unlike most books of this type, the book has been organized into “lessons” rather than chapters. This has been done to limit the size of the mathematical morsels that students must digest during each class, and to make it easier for instructors to budget class time. The book contains considerably more material than normally appears in a first course. For example, several advanced topics such as the Jordan canonical form and matrix power series have been included. This was done to make the book more flexible than most books presently available, and to allow instructors to choose enrichment material which may reflect their interests, and those of their students.

Table of Contents:
Matrices and Linear Systems Introduction to Matrices Matrix Multiplication Additional Topics in Matrix Algebra Introduction to Linear Systems The Inverse of a Matrix Determinants Introduction to Determinants Properties of Determinants Applications of Determinants A First Look at Vector Spaces Introduction to Vector Spaces Subspaces of Vector Spaces Linear Dependence and Independence Basis and Dimension The Rank of a Matrix Linear Systems Revisited More About Vector Spaces Sums and Direct Sums of Subspaces Quotient Spaces Change of Basis Euclidean Spaces Orthonormal Bases Linear Transformations Introduction to Linear Transformations Isomorphisms of Vector Spaces The Kernel and Range of a Linear Transformation Matrices of Linear Transformations Similar Matrices Matrix Diagonalization Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors Diagonalization of Square Matrices Diagonalization of Symmetric Matrices Complex Vector Spaces Complex Vector Spaces Unitary and Hermitian Matrices Advanced Topics Powers of Matrices Functions of a Square Matrix Matrix Power Series Minimal Polynomials Direct Sum Decompositions Jordan Canonical Form Applications Systems of First Order Differential Equations Stability Analysis of First Order Systems Coupled Oscillations Appendix Solutions and Hints to Selected Exercises

About the Author :
David C. Mello received an M.A. degree in Mathematics from Rhode Island College, and both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Mathematics from Brown University. He is currently Professor of Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, Rhode Island. He has taught college-level mathematics for more than 30 years.