ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Multilinear algebra

Multilinear algebra is like playing with puzzle pieces that have different shapes and sizes. Imagine you have a big box full of colorful shapes - some are squares, some are triangles, some are circles, and some are even wavy or curvy. Each shape represents something different, like a number or a vector.

Now imagine you want to put these shapes together to create something new, like a house or a tree. You can't just randomly place the shapes together, you need to make sure they fit and make sense. This is where multilinear algebra comes in - it helps you understand how to combine these different shapes and make them work together.

It's like putting together a puzzle, but instead of just fitting the pieces together, you need to understand how the different pieces interact with each other. For example, if you have a square (representing a number) and a triangle (representing a vector), you need to know how to combine them in a way that makes sense.

Multilinear algebra also helps you understand how to transform these shapes. For example, if you want to flip a triangle over, you need to understand how that transformation affects the other shapes around it.

Overall, multilinear algebra is like playing with puzzle pieces that have different properties, and understanding how to fit them together in a way that makes sense. It helps us understand how different shapes (like numbers and vectors) can work together to create something new.