Möbius transformationIn geometry and complex analysis, a Möbius transformation of the complex plane is a rational function of the form of one complex variable z; here the coefficients a, b, c, d are complex numbers satisfying ad − bc ≠ 0. Geometrically, a Möbius transformation can be obtained by first performing stereographic projection from the plane to the unit two-sphere, rotating and moving the sphere to a new location and orientation in space, and then performing stereographic projection (from the new position of the sphere) to the plane.
System of linear equationsIn mathematics, a system of linear equations (or linear system) is a collection of one or more linear equations involving the same variables. For example, is a system of three equations in the three variables x, y, z. A solution to a linear system is an assignment of values to the variables such that all the equations are simultaneously satisfied. A solution to the system above is given by the ordered triple since it makes all three equations valid. The word "system" indicates that the equations should be considered collectively, rather than individually.
Invertible matrixIn linear algebra, an n-by-n square matrix A is called invertible (also nonsingular, nondegenerate or (rarely used) regular), if there exists an n-by-n square matrix B such that where In denotes the n-by-n identity matrix and the multiplication used is ordinary matrix multiplication. If this is the case, then the matrix B is uniquely determined by A, and is called the (multiplicative) inverse of A, denoted by A−1. Matrix inversion is the process of finding the matrix B that satisfies the prior equation for a given invertible matrix A.
Finitely generated groupIn algebra, a finitely generated group is a group G that has some finite generating set S so that every element of G can be written as the combination (under the group operation) of finitely many elements of S and of inverses of such elements. By definition, every finite group is finitely generated, since S can be taken to be G itself. Every infinite finitely generated group must be countable but countable groups need not be finitely generated. The additive group of rational numbers Q is an example of a countable group that is not finitely generated.
Kernel (linear algebra)In mathematics, the kernel of a linear map, also known as the null space or nullspace, is the linear subspace of the domain of the map which is mapped to the zero vector. That is, given a linear map L : V → W between two vector spaces V and W, the kernel of L is the vector space of all elements v of V such that L(v) = 0, where 0 denotes the zero vector in W, or more symbolically: The kernel of L is a linear subspace of the domain V.
Transformation (function)In mathematics, a transformation is a function f, usually with some geometrical underpinning, that maps a set X to itself, i.e. f: X → X. Examples include linear transformations of vector spaces and geometric transformations, which include projective transformations, affine transformations, and specific affine transformations, such as rotations, reflections and translations.
Diagonal matrixIn linear algebra, a diagonal matrix is a matrix in which the entries outside the main diagonal are all zero; the term usually refers to square matrices. Elements of the main diagonal can either be zero or nonzero. An example of a 2×2 diagonal matrix is , while an example of a 3×3 diagonal matrix is. An identity matrix of any size, or any multiple of it (a scalar matrix), is a diagonal matrix. A diagonal matrix is sometimes called a scaling matrix, since matrix multiplication with it results in changing scale (size).
AlgebraAlgebra () is the study of variables and the rules for manipulating these variables in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary algebra deals with the manipulation of variables (commonly represented by Roman letters) as if they were numbers and is therefore essential in all applications of mathematics. Abstract algebra is the name given, mostly in education, to the study of algebraic structures such as groups, rings, and fields.
Linear equationIn mathematics, a linear equation is an equation that may be put in the form where are the variables (or unknowns), and are the coefficients, which are often real numbers. The coefficients may be considered as parameters of the equation, and may be arbitrary expressions, provided they do not contain any of the variables. To yield a meaningful equation, the coefficients are required to not all be zero. Alternatively, a linear equation can be obtained by equating to zero a linear polynomial over some field, from which the coefficients are taken.
Definite matrixIn mathematics, a symmetric matrix with real entries is positive-definite if the real number is positive for every nonzero real column vector where is the transpose of . More generally, a Hermitian matrix (that is, a complex matrix equal to its conjugate transpose) is positive-definite if the real number is positive for every nonzero complex column vector where denotes the conjugate transpose of Positive semi-definite matrices are defined similarly, except that the scalars and are required to be positive or zero (that is, nonnegative).
Linear systemIn systems theory, a linear system is a mathematical model of a system based on the use of a linear operator. Linear systems typically exhibit features and properties that are much simpler than the nonlinear case. As a mathematical abstraction or idealization, linear systems find important applications in automatic control theory, signal processing, and telecommunications. For example, the propagation medium for wireless communication systems can often be modeled by linear systems.
Generating set of a groupIn abstract algebra, a generating set of a group is a subset of the group set such that every element of the group can be expressed as a combination (under the group operation) of finitely many elements of the subset and their inverses. In other words, if is a subset of a group , then , the subgroup generated by , is the smallest subgroup of containing every element of , which is equal to the intersection over all subgroups containing the elements of ; equivalently, is the subgroup of all elements of that can be expressed as the finite product of elements in and their inverses.
