Foundations
4 lessonsQuants live and die by clean notation. Before you touch a single model, you need to read formulas fluently, manipulate exponentials and logs without thinking, and recognise the series expansions that show up everywhere from interest accrual to option pricing.
- 01Functions & Notation
Includes: Why This Module Matters · What Is a Function? · Domain and Range · Common Function Types · Composition of Functions · Inverse Functions · Sigma Notation (Summation) · Product Notation · Mathematical Reasoning (Intuition Level) · Common Notation Reference · Summary
- 02Exponentials & Logarithms
Includes: Why This Module Matters · Laws of Exponents: The Ground Rules · The Number $e$ — The Most Important Constant in Finance · The Exponential Function $e^x$ · Natural Logarithms · Continuous Compounding: The Standard in Quantitative Finance · Log Returns: The Quant's Preferred Measure · Log Transformations: A Powerful Tool · Exponential Growth in the Real World · Common Pitfalls · Summary
- 03Sequences, Series & Taylor
Includes: Why This Module Matters · Sequences: Patterns in Numbers · Series: Adding Up the Terms · Convergence: Can You Sum Infinitely Many Terms? · Taylor Series: Approximating Any Function with Polynomials · Taylor Approximations in Finance: Practical Applications · Putting It All Together: From Sequences to Approximations · Summary
- 04Complex Numbers & Euler's Formula
Includes: Why this matters · The imaginary unit and complex arithmetic · The complex plane and modulus · Polar form · Euler's formula · Roots of unity and De Moivre · Why complex numbers appear in finance · Summary