Linear algebra concepts such as scalars, vectors, matrices, and tensors are central to deep learning. Vectors are arrays with a single index, matrices are 2D arrays with row and column indices, and tensors generalize this to multiple indices. Computational rules for linear algebra include performing element-wise operations on scalars and matrices, multiplying matrices by following the row-column dot product rule, and properties such as non-commutativity but associativity of matrix multiplication. The identity matrix leaves other matrices unchanged when multiplied.