Ricardo Bebczuk
Asymmetric Information in Financial Markets
Introduction and Applications
August 2003 | Hardback | 172 pages 8 line
diagrams 17 tables
18 graphs | ISBN: 0-521-79342-4
August 2003 | Paperback | 172 pages 8 line
diagrams 17 tables 18
graphs | ISBN: 0-521-79732-2
Asymmetric information (the fact that borrowers
have better
information than their lenders) and its theoretical
and practical
evidence now forms part of the basic tool
kit of every financial
economist. It is a phenomenon that has major
implications for a
number of economic and financial issues ranging
from both micro
and macroeconomic level - corporate debt,
investment and dividend
policies, the depth and duration of business
cycles, the rate of
long term economic growth - to the origin
of financial and
international crises. Asymmetric Information
in Financial Markets
aims to explain this concept in an accessible
way, without jargon
and by reducing mathematical complexity.
Using elementary algebra
and statistics, graphs, and convincing real-world
evidence, the
author explores the foundations of the problems
posed by
asymmetries of information in a refreshingly
accessible and
intuitive way.
Contents
Part I. Conceptual Foundations: 1. An introduction
to asymmetric
information problems in financial markets;
2. Protective
mechanisms against asymmetric information;
Part II. Applications
To Corporate Finance: 3. Information problems
and corporate
financing; 4. Asymmetric information and
dividend policy; Part
III. Macroeconomic Applications: 5. Asymmetric
information, the
financial system and economic growth; 6.
Asymmetric information
and business cycles; 7. Asymmetric information
and the
functioning of the financial system; 8. Asymmetric
information
and international capital flows.
Mark P. Jones
Qualified Types
Theory and Practice
Publication is planned for September 2003
| Paperback | 169
pages | ISBN: 0-521-54326-6
This book describes the use of qualified
types to provide a
general framework for the combination of
polymorphism and
overloading. For example, qualified types
can be viewed as a
generalization of type classes in the functional
language Haskell
and the theorem prover Isabelle. These in
turn are extensions of
equality types in Standard ML. Other applications
of qualified
types include extensible records and subtyping.
Using a general
formulation of qualified types, the author
extends the Damas/Milner
type inference algorithm to support qualified
types, which in
turn specifies the set of all possible types
for any term. In
addition, he describes a new technique for
establishing suitable
coherence conditions that guarantee the same
semantics for all
possible translations of a given term. Practical
issues that
arise in concrete implementations are also
discussed,
concentrating in particular on the implementation
of overloading
in Haskell and Gofer, a small functional
programming system
developed by the author.
Contents
1. Introduction; 2. Predicates; 3. Type inference
for qualified
types; 4. Evidence; 5. Semantics and coherence;
6. Theory into
practice; 7. Type classes in Haskell; 8.
Type classes in Gofer; 9.
Summary and future work; 10. Epilogue; Appendix;
References;
Index.
Steven Carlip
Quantum Gravity in 2 +1 Dimensions
Publication is planned for October 2003 |
Paperback | 290
pages 35 line diagrams | ISBN: 0-521-54588-9
This timely volume provides a broad survey
of (2+1)-dimensional
quantum gravity. It emphasises the ‘quantum
cosmology’ of
closed universes and the quantum mechanics
of the (2+1)-dimensional
black hole. It compares and contrasts a variety
of approaches,
and examines what they imply for a realistic
theory of quantum
gravity. General relativity in three spacetime
dimensions has
become a popular arena in which to explore
the ramifications of
quantum gravity. As a diffeomorphism-invariant
theory of
spacetime structure, this model shares many
of the conceptual
problems of realistic quantum gravity. But
it is also simple
enough that many programs of quantization
can be carried out
explicitly. After analysing the space of
classical solutions,
this book introduces some fifteen approaches
to quantum gravity -
from canonical quantization in York’s ‘extrinsic
time’ to
Chern-Simons quantization, from the loop
representation to
covariant path integration to lattice methods.
Relationships
among quantizations are explored, as well
as implications for
such issues as topology change and the ‘problem
of time’.
This book is an invaluable resource for all
graduate students and
researchers working in quantum gravity.
Contents
1. Why (2+1)-dimensional gravity?; 2. Classical
general
relativity in 2+1 dimensions; 3. A field
guide to the (2+1)-dimensional
spacetimes; 4. Geometric structures and Chern-Simons
theory; 5.
Canonical quantization in reduced phase space;
6. The connection
representation; 7. Operator algebras and
loops; 8. The Wheeler-DeWitt
equation; 9. Lorentzian path integrals; 10.
Euclidian path
integrals and quantum cosmology; 11. Lattice
methods; 12. The (2+1)-dimensional
black hole; 13. Next steps; Appendix A. The
topology of
manifolds; Appendix B. Lorentzian metrics
and causal structure;
Appendix C. Differential geometry and fiber
bundles; References;
Index.
Edited by Stefan Muller-Stach, Chris Peters
Transcendental Aspects of Algebraic Cycles
Proceedings of the Grenoble Summer School,
2001
Publication is planned for March 2004 | Paperback
| 290 pages
1 half-tone | ISBN: 0-521-54547-1
This is a collection of lecture notes from
the Summer School ‘Cycles
Algebriques; Aspects Transcendents, Grenoble
2001’. The topics
range from introductory lectures on algebraic
cycles to more
advanced material. The advanced lectures
are grouped under three
headings: Lawson (co)homology, motives and
motivic cohomology and
Hodge theoretic invariants of cycles. Among
the topics treated
are: cycle spaces, Chow topology, morphic
cohomology,
Grothendieck motives, Chow-Kunneth decompositions
of the
diagonal, motivic cohomology via higher Chow
groups, the Hodge
conjecture for certain fourfolds, an effective
version of Nori’s
connectivity theorem, Beilinson's Hodge and
Tate conjecture for
open complete intersections. As the lectures
were intended for
non-specialists many examples have been included
to illustrate
the theory. As such this book will be ideal
for graduate students
or researchers seeking a modern introduction
to the state-of-the-art
theory in this subject.
Contributors
J. Elizondo, C. Peters, S. Kosarew, P. Lima-Filho,
J. P. Murre, P.
Elbaz-Vincent, J. D. Lewis, J. Nagel, S.
Saito
Contents
Part I. Introductory Material: 1. Chow varieties,
the Euler-Chow
series and the total coordinate ring J. Elizondo;
2. Introduction
to Lawson homology C. Peters and S. Kosarew;
Part II. Lawson (Co)homology:
3. Topological properties of the algebraic
cycles functor P. Lima-Filho;
Part III. Motives and Motivic Cohomology:
4. Lectures on motives
J. P. Murre; 5. A short introduction to higher
Chow groups P.
Elbaz-Vincent; Part IV. Hodge Theoretic Invariants
of Cycles: 6.
Three lectures on the Hodge conjecture J.
D. Lewis; 7. Lectures
on Nori’s connectivity theorem J. Nagel;
8. Beilinson’s Hodge
and Tate conjectures S. Saito.
LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY LECTURE NOTE
SERIES, VOL.313
Keith Devlin Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
Sets, Functions, and Logic: An Introduction to Abstract Mathematics,
Third Edition
Series: Chapman Hall/CRC Mathematics Series
Volume: 25
ISBN: 1-58488-449-5
Publication Date: 11/25/2003
Number of Pages: 160
Helps students adopt the difficult new mode
of thinking they need
to make the transition to the rigor and abstraction
of pure
mathematics
Incorporates thorough revisions that improve
accessibility even
further and reflect the new generation of
mathematics students
Includes a new introductory chapter on the
nature of mathematics:
what it is, how it developed, its language,
and its purpose
Contains a variety of new exercises
Keith Devlin. You know him. You've read his
columns in MAA
Online, you've heard him on the radio, and
you've seen his
popular mathematics books. In between all
those activities and
his own research, he's been hard at work
revising Sets, Functions
and Logic, his standard-setting text that
has smoothed the road
to pure mathematics for legions of undergraduate
students.
Now in its third edition, Devlin has fully
reworked the book to
reflect a new generation. The narrative is
more lively and less
textbook-like. Remarks and asides link the
topics presented to
the real world of students' experience. The
chapter on complex
numbers and the discussion of formal symbolic
logic are gone in
favor of more exercises, and a new introductory
chapter on the
nature of mathematics--one that motivates
readers and sets the
stage for the challenges that lie ahead.
Students crossing the bridge from calculus
to higher mathematics
need and deserve all the help they can get.
Sets, Functions, and
Logic, Third Edition is an affordable little
book that all of
your transition-course students not only
can afford, but will
actually read…and enjoy…and learn from.
About the Author
Dr. Keith Devlin is Executive Director of
Stanford University's
Center for the Study of Language and Information
and a Consulting
Professor of Mathematics at Stanford. He
has written 23 books,
one interactive book on CD-ROM, and over
70 published research
articles. He is a Fellow of the American
Association for the
Advancement of Science, a World Economic
Forum Fellow, and a
former member of the Mathematical Sciences
Education Board of the
National Academy of Sciences,.
Dr. Devlin is also one of the world's leading
popularizers of
mathematics. Known as "The Math Guy"
on NPR's Weekend
Edition, he is a frequent contributor to
other local and national
radio and TV shows in the US and Britain,
writes a monthly column
for the Web journal MAA Online, and regularly
writes on
mathematics and computers for the British
newspaper The Guardian.