Readership: Undergraduates and researchers in probability and statistics; applied, pure and financial mathematics; economics; chaos.

This important book provides information necessary for those dealing with stochastic calculus and pricing in the models of financial markets operating under uncertainty; introduces the reader to the main concepts, notions and results of stochastic financial mathematics; and develops applications of these results to various kinds of calculations required in financial engineering. It also answers the requests of teachers of financial mathematics and engineering by making a bias towards probabilistic and statistical ideas and the methods of stochastic calculus in the analysis of market risks.

Building upon the previous editions, this textbook is a first course in stochastic processes taken by undergraduate and graduate students (MS and PhD students from math, statistics, economics, computer science, engineering, and finance departments) who have had a course in probability theory. It covers Markov chains in discrete and continuous time, Poisson processes, renewal processes, martingales, and option pricing. One can only learn a subject by seeing it in action, so there are a large number of examples and more than 300 carefully chosen exercises to deepen the reader’s understanding. Drawing from teaching experience and student feedback, there are many new examples and problems with solutions that use TI-83 to eliminate the tedious details of solving linear equations by hand, and the collection of exercises is much improved, with many more biological examples. Originally included in previous editions, material too advanced for this first course in stochastic processes has been eliminated while treatment of other topics useful for applications has been expanded. In addition, the ordering of topics has been improved; for example, the difficult subject of martingales is delayed until its usefulness can be applied in the treatment of mathematical finance.

This book is an introduction to stochastic analysis and quantitative finance; it includes both theoretical and computational methods. Topics covered are stochastic calculus, option pricing, optimal portfolio investment, and interest rate models. Also included are simulations of stochastic phenomena, numerical solutions of the Black–Scholes–Merton equation, Monte Carlo methods, and time series. Basic measure theory is used as a tool to describe probabilistic phenomena. The level of familiarity with computer programming is kept to a minimum. To make the book accessible to a wider audience, some background mathematical facts are included in the first part of the book and also in the appendices. This work attempts to bridge the gap between mathematics and finance by using diagrams, graphs and simulations in addition to rigorous theoretical exposition. Simulations are not only used as the computational method in quantitative finance, but they can also facilitate an intuitive and deeper understanding of theoretical concepts. Stochastic Analysis for Finance with Simulations is designed for readers who want to have a deeper understanding of the delicate theory of quantitative finance by doing computer simulations in addition to theoretical study. It will particularly appeal to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics and business, but not excluding practitioners in finance industry.

Developed for the professional Master's program in Computational Finance at Carnegie Mellon, the leading financial engineering program in the U.S. Has been tested in the classroom and revised over a period of several years Exercises conclude every chapter; some of these extend the theory while others are drawn from practical problems in quantitative finance