Designed for a proof-based course on linear algebra, this rigorous and concise textbook intentionally introduces vector spaces, inner products, and vector and matrix norms before Gaussian elimination and eigenvalues so students can quickly discover the singular value decomposition (SVD)-arguably the most enlightening and useful of all matrix factorizations. Gaussian elimination is then introduced after the SVD and the four fundamental subspaces and is presented in the context of vector spaces rather than as a computational recipe. This allows the authors to use linear independence, spanning sets and bases, and the four fundamental subspaces to explain and exploit Gaussian elimination and the LU factorization, as well as the solution of overdetermined linear systems in the least squares sense and eigenvalues and eigenvectors. This unique textbook also includes examples and problems focused on concepts rather than the mechanics of linear algebra. The problems at the end of each chapter and in an associated website encourage readers to explore how to use the notions introduced in the chapter in a variety of ways. Additional problems, quizzes, and exams will be posted on an accompanying website and updated regularly. The Less Is More Linear Algebra of Vector Spaces and Matrices is for students and researchers interested in learning linear algebra who have the mathematical maturity to appreciate abstract concepts that generalize intuitive ideas. The early introduction of the SVD makes the book particularly useful for those interested in using linear algebra in applications such as scientific computing and data science. It is appropriate for a first proof-based course in linear algebra.

This book has been written for undergraduate and graduate students in various disciplines of mathematics. The authors, internationally recognized experts in their field, have developed a superior teaching and learning tool that makes it easy to grasp new concepts and apply them in practice. The book's highly accessible approach makes it particularly ideal if you want to become acquainted with the Bayesian approach to computational science, but do not need to be fully immersed in detailed statistical analysis.

The once esoteric idea of embedding scientific computing into a probabilistic framework, mostly along the lines of the Bayesian paradigm, has recently enjoyed wide popularity and found its way into numerous applications. This book provides an insider's view of how to combine two mature fields, scientific computing and Bayesian inference, into a powerful language leveraging the capabilities of both components for computational efficiency, high resolution power and uncertainty quantification ability. The impact of Bayesian scientific computing has been particularly significant in the area of computational inverse problems where the data are often scarce or of low quality, but some characteristics of the unknown solution may be available a priori. The ability to combine the flexibility of the Bayesian probabilistic framework with efficient numerical methods has contributed to the popularity of Bayesian inversion, with the prior distribution being the counterpart of classical regularization. However, the interplay between Bayesian inference and numerical analysis is much richer than providing an alternative way to regularize inverse problems, as demonstrated by the discussion of time dependent problems, iterative methods, and sparsity promoting priors in this book. The quantification of uncertainty in computed solutions and model predictions is another area where Bayesian scientific computing plays a critical role. This book demonstrates that Bayesian inference and scientific computing have much more in common than what one may expect, and gradually builds a natural interface between these two areas.