Semester 2, 2023 Online | |
Units : | 1 |
School or Department : | School of Mathematics, Physics & Computing |
Grading basis : | Graded |
Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Course Coordinator:
Requisites
Pre-requisite: (STA2300 or STA1003 or equivalent) and (MAT2100 or MAT2500 or ENM2600)
Overview
Of fundamental importance to science, finance and engineering, are processes with random fluctuations. The series of prices of a financial instrument such as an equity, bond, or contract is an ideal and extremely important example. Some graduates will work in financial and commercial applications of mathematics where stochastic differential equations (SDEs) are of fundamental importance. SDEs also apply in many other areas in science and engineering and have many features that distinguish them from other mathematical models. Developing technical communication, which is addressed in this course is also essential as preparation for the workplace.
This course begins by investigating models of economic activity and the financial and economic strategies which are used to stimulate economic activity. After these models of financial processes, such as equity prices, interest rates, bond yields, and so on are considered. Simulation models of such processes are developed and used in experiments using scripts written in R and scilab which are supplied on the course web page (students may choose whether to use R or scilab - it is not necessary to use both).
The theory of Stochastic differential equations is introduced and studied by simulation and in theory. Techniques for solving such equations by means of Ito's formula are explained and applied. This is applied to financial process problems and the Black-Scholes differential equation is formulated and solved. Binomial tree models are introduced and used to solve a variety of option pricing models. In the last part of the course the method for solving option pricing problems based on the equivalent martingale measure. The on-campus offering of this course is normally available only in odd numbered years. The external offering of this course is available yearly.
Course learning outcomes
On completion of this course students will be able to:
- Examine how to make use of simple mathematical models of an economy
- Simulate stochastic processes of various types, using provided software, and interpret the results;
- Apply mathematical models of financial or economic activity to model risk;
- Solve and interpret stochastic differential equations (SDEs);
- Prepare, for a general audience (not just mathematicians), documents and presentations of technical material both individually and in collaboration with other students.
Topics
Description | Weighting(%) | |
---|---|---|
1. | Macro-economic models | 15.00 |
2. | Simulation modelling of financial and stochastic processes | 15.00 |
3. | Binomial models of financial instruments (options and other contracts). | 20.00 |
4. | An introduction to Ito's stochastic calculus. The Black-Scholes model of European options and its solution. | 20.00 |
5. | Stochastic differential equations and their solution by means of Ito鈥檚 formula. | 20.00 |
6. | Martingale Models of Financial Markets and of Options | 10.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
(Available on course 精东传媒appDesk.)
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
Description | Group Assessment |
Weighting (%) | Course learning outcomes |
---|---|---|---|
Problem Solving 1 | No | 30 | 1,2,5 |
Problem Solving 2 | No | 30 | 2,3,4,5 |
Problem Solving A1 of 2 | No | 20 | 1,2,3,4,5 |
Viva voce A2 of 2 | No | 20 | 1,2,3,4,5 |