Mathematical Finance and Probability

On what grounds can one reasonably expect that a complex financial contract solving a complex real-world issue does not deserve the same thorough scientific treatment as an aeroplane wing or a micro-proces­ sor? Only ignorance would suggest such an idea. E. Briys and F. De Varenne The objective of this book is to give a self-contained presentation of that part of mathematical finance devoted to the pricing of derivative instruments. During the past two decades the pricing of financial derivatives - or more generally: mathematical finance - has steadily won in importance both within the financial services industry and within the academic world. The complexity of the mathemat­ ics needed to master derivatives techniques naturally resulted in a high demand for quantitatively oriented professionals (mostly mathematicians and physicists) in the banking and insurance world. This in turn triggered a demand for university courses on the relevant topics and at the same time confronted the mathematical community with an interesting field of application for many techniques that had originally been developed for other purposes. Most probably this development was accelerated by an ever more applied orientation of the mathematics curriculum and the fact that finance institutions were often willing to generously support research in this field.