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I'd tell you to give it a go, it can't hurt. But for your use case I'd consider the Essence of linear algebra series by 3blue1brown, which is free on youtube: h

by kace91 7y ago

I'd tell you to give it a go, it can't hurt. But for your use case I'd consider the Essence of linear algebra series by 3blue1brown, which is free on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHQObOWTQDPD3MizzM2xVFitgF8hE_ab https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHQObOWTQDPD3MizzM2x... In comparison, I'd say Strang's class is more formal and feels more like work, and those videos will be more fun while fullfilling the same purpose, to give you a lasting understanding of what linear algebra is and where it might come in handy.

xhkkffbf 7y ago
The essence videos are great. Any other suggestions from the peanut gallery?
- PNWChris 7y ago
  I gained some great intuition from http://matrixmultiplication.xyz/ http://matrixmultiplication.xyz/ and (of all things) a paper named "An Introduction to Quantum Computing"[0]. Page 3 of that paper lays out matrix multiplication (e.g.: applying a "transformation matrix" in the spatial parlance of 3blue1brown's videos) as a traversal of a directed graph. This isn't super readable (it's from my notes to self), but my intuition is: Matrix multiplication is a graph traversal: * Each i,j in transform matrix (on left) pulls N (the value at that index) times the j-th value in the input vec (on right) into the i-th output vec index * This is equivalent to an N weighted vertex from the j-th node to i-th node, so i takes N of j's previous value * The input (right side) is a matrix? It's just multiple column vectors next to each other, repeat the above process and make a new output vector for each iteration [0]: https://arxiv.org/abs/0708.0261 https://arxiv.org/abs/0708.0261
  - anjc 7y ago
    > I gained some great intuition from http://matrixmultiplication.xyz/ http://matrixmultiplication.xyz/ and (of all things) a paper named "An Introduction to Quantum Computing"[0]. Just wanted to say thanks for this paper. It really does help with intuition and it's not something I would've expected to get through.
- jacobolus 7y ago
  If you have gone through a first linear algebra course (e.g. watched Strang’s 18.06 videos), follow up with Strang’s videos for his class 18.065 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqIkSHSmyc&list=PLUl4u3cNGP63oMNUHXqIUcrkS2PivhN3k&index=3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqIkSHSmyc&list=PLUl4u3cNGP...

by kace91 7y ago

xhkkffbf 7y ago

The essence videos are great. Any other suggestions from the peanut gallery?

PNWChris 7y ago
I gained some great intuition from http://matrixmultiplication.xyz/ http://matrixmultiplication.xyz/ and (of all things) a paper named "An Introduction to Quantum Computing"[0]. Page 3 of that paper lays out matrix multiplication (e.g.: applying a "transformation matrix" in the spatial parlance of 3blue1brown's videos) as a traversal of a directed graph. This isn't super readable (it's from my notes to self), but my intuition is: Matrix multiplication is a graph traversal: * Each i,j in transform matrix (on left) pulls N (the value at that index) times the j-th value in the input vec (on right) into the i-th output vec index * This is equivalent to an N weighted vertex from the j-th node to i-th node, so i takes N of j's previous value * The input (right side) is a matrix? It's just multiple column vectors next to each other, repeat the above process and make a new output vector for each iteration [0]: https://arxiv.org/abs/0708.0261 https://arxiv.org/abs/0708.0261
- anjc 7y ago
  > I gained some great intuition from http://matrixmultiplication.xyz/ http://matrixmultiplication.xyz/ and (of all things) a paper named "An Introduction to Quantum Computing"[0]. Just wanted to say thanks for this paper. It really does help with intuition and it's not something I would've expected to get through.
jacobolus 7y ago
If you have gone through a first linear algebra course (e.g. watched Strang’s 18.06 videos), follow up with Strang’s videos for his class 18.065 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqIkSHSmyc&list=PLUl4u3cNGP63oMNUHXqIUcrkS2PivhN3k&index=3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqIkSHSmyc&list=PLUl4u3cNGP...