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People who are going to be users of applied linear algebra would probably benefit from a traditional treatment of determinants. Axler's book is excellent for p
by skh 8y ago
People who are going to be users of applied linear algebra would probably benefit from a traditional treatment of determinants. Axler's book is excellent for people who plan to go for more pure mathematics in their studies.
- ajkjk 8y agoI would not wish the traditional treatment of determinants on anyone.
- romwell 8y ago>benefit from a traditional treatment of determinants The only beneficial traditional treatment I can think of is saying "determinant is volume", and that's what Axler does. From there, one can look into alternating forms, convince oneself that an alternating n-linear form does the same thing, and obtain a formula for it (e.g. summing up signed products of numbers on the diagonals over all permutations of columns). If by "traditional" you mean: "Here's an insanely complicated formula that does something magical. Learn to compute it. On page 5, we'll prove that it tells something about independence. Oh, and we'll mention volume on page 10 briefly" -- then I not only think this is not useful, I think it's outright harmful.