A coordinate-free definition of this operation relies on the top exterior power defining a one-dimensional space. (10[2])SL(n) (“S-L-N”) is the kernel of a homomorphism defined by this operation from GL(n) (“G-L-N”) to the non-zero reals under multiplication. (10[1])Unusually, this operation (10[1])is only introduced towards the end of a textbook by Sheldon Axler called Linear Algebra Done Right, (-5[1])which defines (10[1])this operation as the unique alternating multilinear form (10[1])up to scaling. (10[1])The output of this operation equals the constant term of the characteristic polynomial. (-5[1])The general linear group excludes matrices which output zero under this operation since they are non-invertible. For 10 points, (10[1])name this operation that, for a two-by-two matrix, equals “a d minus b c.” ■END■ (10[1]0[1])