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My Life as a Quant
Reflections on Physics and Finance
Emanuel Derman
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
More Praise for My Life as a Quant
“An honest account of the experience of going from an envi-
ronment of Nobel Prize winners and pure thought to one of
money, money, money. Derman gives us unique insight into the
motivations of academia, the pressure to cast off worldly success
in favor of matters more cerebral, then the mixed feelings
during his descent into a world where the bottom line is P&L,
and finally his success at bringing his own style of science into
investment banking.”
—Paul Wilmottt,
mathematician, author, and fund manager
“A fascinating personal account of one man’s journey through
several of the leading institutions of our time.Written by per-
haps the leading practitioner of his generation, this insightful
narrative explores the disparate cultures of physics, finance, and
their powerful fusion known as phynance. This book is a must-
read for aspiring quants, financial historians, and armchair soci-
ologists interested in the machinations of both academia and
industry.”
—Peter Carr,
Head of Quantitative Research, Bloomberg,
and Director, Masters in Math Finance, NYU
My Life as a Quant
Reflections on Physics and Finance
Emanuel Derman
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Copyright © 2004 by Emanuel Derman. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Derman, Emanuel.
My life as a quant : reflections on physics and finance / Emanuel Derman.
p.
cm.
Includes biographical references and index.
ISBN 0-471-39420-3 (cloth)
1. Derman, Emanuel
Physicists—Biography.
6. Mathematical physics.
I. Title.
2. Investment advisors—Biography. 3.
4. Options (Finance)
5. Quantum theory.
HG4621.D47
332.6′092—dc22
2004
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
2004007664
To the Memory of My Parents
Ambition is a state of permanent dissatisfaction with the present.
Contents
PROLOGUE
THE TWO CULTURES
1
䡲 Physics and finance 䡲 What quants do 䡲 The Black-Scholes
model 䡲 Quants and traders 䡲 Pure thought and beautiful mathe-
matics can divine the laws of physics 䡲 Can they do the same for
finance? 䡲
CHAPTER 1
ELECTIVE AFFINITIES
17
䡲 The attractions of science 䡲 The glory days of particle physics 䡲
Driven by ambitious dreams to Columbia 䡲 Legendary physicists
and budding wunderkinder 䡲 Talent versus character, plans versus
luck 䡲
CHAPTER 2
DOG YEARS
䡲 Life as a graduate student 䡲 Wonderful lectures 䡲 T. D. Lee,
the brightest star in the firmament 䡲 Seven lean years 䡲 Getting
out of graduate school only half-alive 䡲
CHAPTER 3
A SORT OF LIFE
䡲 The priesthood of itinerant postdocs 䡲 Research isn’t easy 䡲
Almost perishing, then publishing 䡲 The delirious thrill of collab-
oration and discovery 䡲
CHAPTER 4
A SENTIMENTAL
EDUCATION
䡲 Oxford’s civilized charms 䡲 One physics paper leads to another
䡲 English idiosyncrasies 䡲 The anthroposophists 䡲
ix
29
53
65