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...

Over the last several years, the field of materials science has witnessed an explosion of new, advanced materials. They encompass many uses and include superconductors, alloys, glasses, and catalysts. Not only are there quite a number of new enhies into these generic classes of materials, but the materials themselves represent a wide array of physical forms as well. Bulk materials, for example, are being synthesized and applica tions found for them, while still other materials are being synthesized as thin films for yet still more new (and in some cases, as yet unknown) applications. The...