The last three MAT480 math seminar presentations are finals week
Thursday December 13 from 11am to 2pm, in Old Main 223
Speakers: Tyler Molina, Mary Sue Tichy, Samantha Youmans
Tyler Molina volunteered to go first. Title: Use of Sabermetrics in Baseball
Abstract: Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially in-game statistics. The term comes from SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research. This term was coined by Bill James who is often considered the public face of Sabermetrics. Bill James started his baseball writings while working night shifts as a security guard at the Stokley-Van Kamp’s pork and beans cannery. Ever since Paul DePodesta, Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s implemented Sabermetrics for their historic 2002 season, it has been used by every single MLB to some extent. There is some good behind using Sabermetrics as it opened up doors that people did not know were there, but the A’s showed that you need more than complicated calculations to win a championship.
Samantha Youmans, Title: The Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model
Abstract: The Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model is a mathematical model of a financial market containing certain derivative investments. In1973, Fischer Black and Myron Scholes published their formulation of a partial differential equation called the Black-Scholes equation, which under specific conditions is used to determine the price of an option over time. The derivation arises from the concept of delta-hedging, a specific method of buying and selling the underlying asset in order to consequently “eliminate risk”. The Black-Scholes formula calculates the price of European put and call options at a specific time. The formula is derived by solving the Black-Scholes equation under certain boundary conditions. This talk will define basic option terminology, provide a brief introduction to Brownian motion and stochastic calculus as they apply to the Black-Scholes model, and present the derivations of the Black-Scholes equation and formula.
Mary Sue Tichy, Title: Different Types of Hypothesis Tests
Abstract: hypothesis tests of a population mean μ , hypothesis tests of a population proportion p, hypothesis tests of the difference between 2 population means μ1 and μ2 , hypothesis tests of the difference between 2 population proportions P1 and P2 , hypothesis tests of the Equality of Three or more means where there is only one potential source of variation, hypothesis tests of the Equality of two or more means where there are two potential sources of variation, hypothesis tests comparing 2 population variances [sigma1-squared] and [sigma2-squared] , Hypothesis Tests of Simple Regression, Hypothesis Tests of Multiple Regression.
Mary Sue’s talk:
I thought Mary Sue’s talk was pretty well done. The topic was basic enough for most of the class to understand. The topics she did get to made sense, and it was helpful to go through the examples step by step. It was a good follow up to my talk about hypothesis tests for the population proportion since she talked about other parameters. It could have been a little better if she had focused on only a few different types of hypothesis tests and was able to give more background information for each so that it would have easier to understand everything. The examples she used were good since they demonstrated most of the real world applications for hypothesis tests. I wish she would have only chosen to do the more complex tests however since it would have made the talk more advanced.
Samantha’s talk was very interesting and fairly easy to follow without being simplistic. I wish I had started taking notes from the beginning of her talk, because I would like to go back and reread what she presented. It was fascinating. Samantha’s was my favorite talk this semester.
Tyler Molina: Use of Sabermetrics in Baseball
From Mary Floyd: How interesting it was to see an application of statistics in America’s favorite sport! This was probably my favorite talk of the semester as it pertained to something I can easily understand. I found it especially fascinating to see how the statistics formed are then used by baseball statisticians to rank players, which can then determine how fans and coaches alike judge them. Apparently, numbers do make the man in baseball. Tyler did a great job with his presentation, the slides were easy to follow and he didn’t read directly from this (an added bonus). At times he was a little quiet but overall it was very well done, a grand slam of a seminar talk.
Samantha Youmans: The Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model
From Mary Floyd: Again, how great it is to listen to a talk involving practical applications of mathematics. In Samantha’s seminar I listened to financial talk, of which I have had very little formal experience in. I find it very interesting to see how Black and Scholes worked together to come up with a formula that when solved, shows investors how to “eliminate risk.” How wonderful is that? The material she presented was fairly advanced, I was really impressed with her knowledge on the subject.