Linear Algebra: Fourth Edition (Graduate Texts in Mathematics, 23)

This textbook gives a detailed and comprehensive presentation of linear algebra based on an axiomatic treatment of linear spaces. For this fourth edition some new material has been added to the text, for instance, the intrinsic treatment of the classical adjoint of a linear transformation in Chapter IV, as well as the discussion of quaternions and the classifica­ tion of associative division algebras in Chapter VII. Chapters XII and XIII have been substantially rewritten for the sake of clarity, but the contents remain basically the same as before. Finally, a number of problems covering new topics-e.g. complex structures, Caylay numbers and symplectic spaces - have been added. I should like to thank Mr. M. L. Johnson who made many useful suggestions for the problems in the third edition. I am also grateful to my colleague S. Halperin who assisted in the revision of Chapters XII and XIII and to Mr. F. Gomez who helped to prepare the subject index. Finally, I have to express my deep gratitude to my colleague J. R. Van­ stone who worked closely with me in the preparation of all the revisions and additions and who generously helped with the proof reading.