Special issue on Econophysics

The area of research described as 'econophysics" is renewing a kinship between physicists and economists and financial practitioners, that has been lost since the 19th century when scientists such as Pascal and Halley made groundbreaking advances in the area. Now, new meetings are revealing new research opportunities outside the established pathways traditionally explored within economics and finance. In December 2001, around 100 researchers from across the world attended the EPS meeting 'Applications of Physics to Financial Analysis' (APFA3). This was held in the Museum of London Conference Centre which was chosen for its proximity to the City of London and its trading centres. The meeting was especially useful in bringing together roughly equal numbers of physicists, mathematicians and financial practitioners. Taking part in the conference we had the impression that, whilst the relation between physics and applied finance may still be at an early stage, it is evolving very quickly. As in nature, a sign of evolution is the emergence of different and specialised branches, each with their own specific character. Papers covered a range of topics, including: market modelling, risk management, agent-based modelling, hedging in incomplete markets, benchmarking, performance measurement, foreign exchange markets, time series analysis and prediction, efficient market hypothesis, equilibrium and non-equilibrium markets, economic and financial networks, the valuation of derivatives, growth and bankruptcy. The meeting was sponsored by the European Physical Society and the UK Institute of Physics. The invited speakers were J.Ph. Bouchaud, J.F. Muzy, K. Sneppen, G. Iori and S. Solomon. Articles outlining some of the more interesting advances in this field have been selected by the Guest Editors, from amongst the submitted articles, and after having been refereed, they are presented here in this edition of EPJ B. APFA3 closed on a positive note. There was a feeling that links between academia and industry are healthy and that these new interactions between Physics and Finance are producing valuable scientific and economic results.     

漫谈经济物理学

“经济物理学”的英文单词是econophysics, 这个词是美国科学院院士斯坦利（H.E.Stanley）教授在20 世纪90 年代中期提出的。大体说来, 经济物理学就是运用物理学中发展的方法、模型、思想去讨论、分析、理解经济或金融问题。经济物理学自诞生之日起, 就受到了人们的极大期待, ——这里的“人们”也包括传统的经济学家（或金融学家）, 国际上两家著名的综合性学术期刊《自然》（Nature）和《美国国家科学院院刊》（PNAS）已经刊发过不少经济物理学方面的研究论文。可是经过十几年的发展, 经济物理学在经济学家的眼中又是什么模样的呢？大体说来, 经济学家认为：经济物理学正在对计量金融的一些应用领域产生一些影响;经济物理学家已经成功发展了一些模型用于解释金融市场中的价格波动;经济物理学的研究成果多半发表在物理或统计力学方面的期刊, 而非发表在主流经济学期刊, 主流经济学家对经济物理学并无显著印象。此外, 就这个问题, 我自己也与几位经济学家交流过, 获悉他们还有一些更具体的负面印象, 他们认为经济物理学家常常不用经济学家熟悉的语言和方法来描述和处理经济问题, 还有, 他们觉得, 在可预见的将来, 经济物理学家对经济学的研究无法建立类似于牛顿力学那样完整的理论体系。