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Gamal
Posts: 1284
Joined: February 26th, 2004, 8:41 am

Re: Is the type of mathematics found in finance limited?

January 9th, 2023, 7:47 am

There's nothing like mathematical biology, Paul. There's some mathematics loosely inspired by the vocabulary of biology, presumably to get some financing.
https://liorpachter.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/the-two-cultures-of-mathematics-and-biology/

I’m a (50%) professor of mathematics and (50%) professor of molecular & cell biology at UC Berkeley. There have been plenty of days when I have spent the working hours with biologists and then gone off at night with some mathematicians. I mean that literally. I have had, of course, intimate friends among both biologists and mathematicians. I think it is through living among these groups and much more, I think, through moving regularly from one to the other and back again that I have become occupied with the problem that I’ve christened to myself as the ‘two cultures’. For constantly I feel that I am moving among two groups- comparable in intelligence, identical in race, not grossly different in social origin, earning about the same incomes, who have almost ceased to communicate at all, who in intellectual, moral and psychological climate have so little in common that instead of crossing the campus from Evans Hall to the Li Ka Shing building, I may as well have crossed an ocean.
....
Biologists publish in “glamour journals” such as Science, Nature and Cell where impact factors are high. Nature publishes its impact factor to three decimal digits accuracy (42.317). Mathematicians publish in journals whose names start with the word Annals, and they haven’t heard of impact factors. The impact factor of the Annals of Mathematics, perhaps the most prestigious journal in mathematics, is 3 (the journal with the highest impact factor is the Journal of the American Mathematical Society at 3.5). Mathematicians post all papers on the ArXiv preprint server prior to publications. Not only do biologists not do that, they are frequently subject to embargos prior to publication. Mathematicians write in LaTeX, biologists in Word (a recent paper argues that Word is better, but I’m not sure). Biologists draw figures and write papers about them. Mathematicians write papers and draw figures to explain them. Mathematicians order authors alphabetically, and authorship is awarded if a mathematical contribution was made. Biologists author lists have two gradients from each end, and authorship can be awarded for payment for the work. Biologists may review papers on two week deadlines. Mathematicians review papers on two year deadlines. Biologists have their papers cited by thousands, and their results have a real impact on society; in many cases diseases are cured as a result of basic research. Mathematicians are lucky if 10 other individuals on the planet have any idea what they are writing about. Impact time can be measured in centuries, and sometimes theorems turn out to simply not have been interesting at all. Biologists don’t teach much. Mathematicians do (at UC Berkeley my math teaching load is 5 times that of my biology teaching load). Biologists value grants during promotion cases and hiring. Mathematicians don’t. Biologists have chalk talks during job interviews. Mathematicians don’t. Mathematicians have a jobs wiki. Biologists don’t. Mathematicians write ten page recommendation letters. Biologists don’t. Biologists go to retreats to converse. Mathematicians retreat from conversations (my math department used to have a yearly retreat that was one day long and consisted of a faculty meeting around a table in the department; it has not been held the past few years). Mathematics graduate students teach. Biology graduate students rotate. Biology students take very little coursework after their first year. Mathematics graduate students take two years of classes (on this particular matter I’m certain mathematicians are right). Biologists pay their graduate students from grants. Mathematicians don’t (graduate students are paid for teaching sections of classes, usually calculus). Mathematics full professors that are female is a number (%) in the single digits. Biology full professors that are female is a number (%) in the double digits (although even added together the numbers are still much less than 50%). Mathematicians believe in God. Biologists don’t.
 
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trc
Posts: 4
Joined: April 4th, 2002, 2:28 pm

Re: Is the type of mathematics found in finance limited?

February 22nd, 2023, 2:49 pm

Think about it this way: ever since LCTM there is a lingering suspicion that something might go wrong regardless of your academic and scientific credentials. Clients therefore seek reassurance that all is well with your modelling and one way of doing this is to make sure that your model is "industry standard practice". I know of organisations which are required to examine conformity to industry standard practice on a periodic basis.
More generally the most easily understood and readily accepted explanation for everything is "it has always been like that" and  "everybody does it this way" and scientific progress progresses one funeral at a time.
 
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Gamal
Posts: 1284
Joined: February 26th, 2004, 8:41 am

Re: Is the type of mathematics found in finance limited?

February 22nd, 2023, 3:09 pm

Think about it this way: ever since LCTM there is a lingering suspicion that something might go wrong regardless of your academic and scientific credentials. Clients therefore seek reassurance that all is well with your modelling and one way of doing this is to make sure that your model is "industry standard practice".
Some call it "madness of the crowds."