This book is a course in methods and models rooted in physics and used in modelling economic and social phenomena. It covers the discipline of econophysics, which creates an interface between physics and economics. Besides the main theme, it touches on the theory of complex networks and simulations of social phenomena in general. After a brief historical introduction, the book starts with a list of basic empirical data and proceeds to thorough investigation of mathematical and computer models. Many of the models are based on hypotheses of the behaviour of simplified agents. These comprise strategic thinking, imitation, herding, and the gem of econophysics, the so-called minority game. At the same time, many other models view the economic processes as interactions of inanimate particles. Here, the methods of physics are especially useful. Examples of systems modelled in such a way include books of stock-market orders, and redistribution of wealth among individuals. Network effects are investigated in the interaction of economic agents. The book also describes how to model phenomena like cooperation and emergence of consensus. The book will be of benefit to graduate students and researchers in both Physics and Economics.

The primary goal of this book is to present the research findings and conclusions of physicists, economists, mathematicians and financial engineers working in the field of "Econophysics" who have undertaken agent-based modelling, comparison with empirical studies and related investigations. Most standard economic models assume the existence of the representative agent, who is “perfectly rational” and applies the utility maximization principle when taking action. One reason for this is the desire to keep models mathematically tractable: no tools are available to economists for solving non-linear models of heterogeneous adaptive agents without explicit optimization. In contrast, multi-agent models, which originated from statistical physics considerations, allow us to go beyond the prototype theories of traditional economics involving the representative agent. This book is based on the Econophys-Kolkata VII Workshop, at which many such modelling efforts were presented. In the book, leading researchers in their fields report on their latest work, consider recent developments and review the contemporary literature.

This book concerns the use of concepts from statistical physics in the description of financial systems. The authors illustrate the scaling concepts used in probability theory, critical phenomena, and fully developed turbulent fluids. These concepts are then applied to financial time series. The authors also present a stochastic model that displays several of the statistical properties observed in empirical data. Statistical physics concepts such as stochastic dynamics, short- and long-range correlations, self-similarity and scaling permit an understanding of the global behaviour of economic systems without first having to work out a detailed microscopic description of the system. Physicists will find the application of statistical physics concepts to economic systems interesting. Economists and workers in the financial world will find useful the presentation of empirical analysis methods and well-formulated theoretical tools that might help describe systems composed of a huge number of interacting subsystems.

Economics requires understanding and analyzing forces that bring buyers and sellers to a market place who then negotiate exchanges of goods and services based on a mutually agreeable price. Economists have their own method of modeling whereby models are first conceived of some notion of economic and financial thinking, before being empirically tested, and anomalies are then recognized if the observed data is inconsistent with the hypothetical underpinning. This is in inherent contradiction with the modeling approaches of physicists who develop their theories, principle and laws after observing empirical data. The awareness that physics can enlighten the understanding of human behavior (and thus economics), and the interest of physicists in applying their training and models to understanding the complexities of finance and economics, led to the creation of a new field of study appropriately termed as Econophysics. Selected Topics on Econophysics is a collection of essays on topics that enhance and enrich our understanding of economic modeling when the same rigor of modelling used by physicists is brought to developing financial and economic theories. These articles include discussions on modeling bitcoins, stock index modeling using geometric Brownian motion, agent-based modeling, wealth distribution modeling, as well as modeling related to fractal regression, and chaotic processes. This interdisciplinary book will interest researchers, graduate students and professionals in the fields of economics, finance as well as physics.

This book will appeal to the lay-reader with an interest in the history of what is today termed ‘Econophysics’, looking at various works throughout the ages that have led to the emergence of this field. It begins with a discussion of the philosophers and scientists who have contributed to this discipline, before moving on to considering the contributions of different institutions, books, journals and conferences in nurturing the subject.

Filling the gap for an up-to-date textbook in this relatively new interdisciplinary research field, this volume provides readers with a thorough and comprehensive introduction. Based on extensive teaching experience, it includes numerous worked examples and highlights in special biographical boxes some of the most outstanding personalities and their contributions to both physics and economics. The whole is rounded off by several appendices containing important background material.

This book provides the first extensive analytic comparison between models and results from econophysics and financial economics in an accessible and common vocabulary. Unlike other publications dedicated to econophysics, it situates this field in the evolution of financial economics by laying the foundations for common theoretical framework and models.