Bearing in mind the difficulties that students usually encounter in the study of abstract topics such as those presented in this book, we have chosen to use a language that is as simple as possible, trying to motivate the introduction of the various abstract notions with concrete examples. Topics covered include the theory of vector spaces and linear functions, the theory of matrices and systems of linear equations, the theory of Euclidean vector spaces and, finally, the applications of linear algebra to the study of the geometry of affine space. Numerous figures, examples and exercises carried out in every detail have been included in order to facilitate the study and understanding of the topics presented.
FRANCESCO BOTTACIN is Full Professor of Geometry at the University of Padua since 2008. He has carried out research activities at the University of Paris XI, the University of Artois, the Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg, the University of California at Davis and the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Kyoto. His research interests focus on algebraic geometry, in particular on the study of vector bundles and their moduli spaces.