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Curious: has any of you used Linear Algebra in outside settings of academia? I know there are lots of uses in stats, numerical analysis, non-linear dynamics, an

Curious: has any of you used Linear Algebra in outside settings of academia? I know there are lots of uses in stats, numerical analysis, non-linear dynamics, and optimization but I've never used it practically.

corysama 17y ago
3D game development involves a lot of very basic linear algebra (small matrix operations) and the occasional application of advanced linear algebra (conjugate gradients and similar solvers).
hyperbovine 17y ago
Yes. It's huge in engineering, for example: http://commons.bcit.ca/math/examples/civil/linear_algebra/index.html http://commons.bcit.ca/math/examples/civil/linear_algebra/in... According to one of my linear algebra professors from back when, a lot of computational linear algebra was developed by the Soviets in the mid-20th century as a way to carry out optimized central planning. So I guess another application would be, socialism. No idea if this is true or not but it's a good story. Also goes a long way towards explaining why so many linear algebra textbooks are translated from Russian.
- TriinT 17y ago
  "Also goes a long way towards explaining why so many linear algebra textbooks are translated from Russian." I think you're detecting a false pattern there. Russians generally do kick ass in Mathematics. In the West, Mathematics was held back by the Bourbaki fanatics, while in Russia they were never afraid of marrying the pure with the applied, the beautiful with the useful. There may be a lot of Linear Algebra books translated from Russian, but there are also a lot of other books by Arnold, Kolmogorov, Fomin, Gelfand, etc that were also translated from Russian and that were not on Linear Algebra.
protez 17y ago
Linear algebra matters since we always prefer linearity to any other forms because of its simplicity. If something isn't linear, we should transform it into a linear form for further examination. That's what calculus does. That's what analysis does. That's the way how we think.
BrentRitterbeck 17y ago
Here's an example from the finance world. Let's say that you can't get a closed form solution for some option you are trying to price. One of the methods you may turn to is a finite difference method. You are going to have a series of equations to solve for the value at each grid point. A good understanding of linear algebra is essential if you want to code up your solution. You will be dealing with sparse matrices and tridiagonal matrices.

corysama 17y ago

3D game development involves a lot of very basic linear algebra (small matrix operations) and the occasional application of advanced linear algebra (conjugate gradients and similar solvers).

hyperbovine 17y ago

Yes. It's huge in engineering, for example: http://commons.bcit.ca/math/examples/civil/linear_algebra/index.html http://commons.bcit.ca/math/examples/civil/linear_algebra/in... According to one of my linear algebra professors from back when, a lot of computational linear algebra was developed by the Soviets in the mid-20th century as a way to carry out optimized central planning. So I guess another application would be, socialism. No idea if this is true or not but it's a good story. Also goes a long way towards explaining why so many linear algebra textbooks are translated from Russian.

TriinT 17y ago
"Also goes a long way towards explaining why so many linear algebra textbooks are translated from Russian." I think you're detecting a false pattern there. Russians generally do kick ass in Mathematics. In the West, Mathematics was held back by the Bourbaki fanatics, while in Russia they were never afraid of marrying the pure with the applied, the beautiful with the useful. There may be a lot of Linear Algebra books translated from Russian, but there are also a lot of other books by Arnold, Kolmogorov, Fomin, Gelfand, etc that were also translated from Russian and that were not on Linear Algebra.

protez 17y ago

Linear algebra matters since we always prefer linearity to any other forms because of its simplicity. If something isn't linear, we should transform it into a linear form for further examination. That's what calculus does. That's what analysis does. That's the way how we think.

BrentRitterbeck 17y ago

Here's an example from the finance world. Let's say that you can't get a closed form solution for some option you are trying to price. One of the methods you may turn to is a finite difference method. You are going to have a series of equations to solve for the value at each grid point. A good understanding of linear algebra is essential if you want to code up your solution. You will be dealing with sparse matrices and tridiagonal matrices.