Topics in Linear Algebra - The Functional Calculus - 04 - The determinant of a Vandermonde matrix

We compute the determinant of a Vandermonde matrix. We do this inductively by Gaussian elimination. This is an intermediate step in trying to find a polynomial that interpolates several points, which itself is used for computing f(A) for a function f defined on the eigenvalues of the matrix A.

Note: somewhere around 6:05, I keep saying you get lambda_2 -lambda_3, but I mean lambda_3 - lambda_2.

These videos were created during the 2019 Spring/Summer semester at the UConn CETL Lightboard Room.

[Gritpawa]

Concise but yet clear explanation, hats off!!

[avaciprin]

how does he write on the back of it but it's legible from the front. is he mirroring his writing or what

[pavanvadrevu]

Thank you so much. This helped me prove the general case.

[paulanjeru]

Thank you so much for this! It really helped me understand the proof :)

[FloThePro]

where do you go n->n+1 for induction?