Product Review

Several very powerful numerical linear algebra techniques are available for solving problems in data mining and pattern recognition. This application-oriented book describes how modern matrix methods can be used to solve these problems, gives an introduction to matrix theory and decompositions, and provides students with a set of tools that can be modified for a particular application. Matrix Methods in Data Mining and Pattern Recognition is divided into three parts. Part I gives a short introduction to a few application areas before presenting linear algebra concepts and matrix decompositions that students can use in problem-solving environments such as MATLAB®. Some mathematical proofs that emphasize the existence and properties of the matrix decompositions are included. In Part II, linear algebra techniques are applied to data mining problems. Part III is a brief introduction to eigenvalue and singular value algorithms. The applications discussed by the author are: classification of handwritten digits, text mining, text summarization, pagerank computations related to the GoogleÔ search engine, and face recognition. Exercises and computer assignments are available on a Web page that supplements the book. Audience The book is intended for undergraduate students who have previously taken an introductory scientific computing/numerical analysis course. Graduate students in various data mining and pattern recognition areas who need an introduction to linear algebra techniques will also find the book useful. Contents Preface; Part I: Linear Algebra Concepts and Matrix Decompositions. Chapter 1: Vectors and Matrices in Data Mining and Pattern Recognition; Chapter 2: Vectors and Matrices; Chapter 3: Linear Systems and Least Squares; Chapter 4: Orthogonality; Chapter 5: QR Decomposition; Chapter 6: Singular Value Decomposition; Chapter 7: Reduced-Rank Least Squares Models; Chapter 8: Tensor Decomposition; Chapter 9: Clustering and Nonnegative Matrix Factorization; P