I cannot remember but am almost certain matrices à la
\begin{pmatrix} 1 & x_1 & x_1^2 & \cdots \\1 & x_2 & x_2^2 & \cdots \\1 & x_3 & x_3^2 & \cdots \\\vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots \end{pmatrix}
have a special name and meaning, what is it?
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@downvoter well please excuse the primitiveness of my question, it's been a couple of years since I studied and a matrix is rather difficult to even alpha let alone google >:-( or what else is wrong with this question? – Tobias Kienzler Jan 10 '15 at 18:29
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It's called Vandermonde matrix.
It's interesting to remark that "no such expression occurs in Alexandre-Theophile Vandermonde's published writing"(From Ian Stewart's book Galois Theory), so the matrix gets its name for "obscure reasons"
Petite Etincelle
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