A Study in Applied Spirituality

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Today Columns

• 14 June '08: Survival. An Office Survival Guide. (PDF)
• 17 May '08: Media. How to read between the lines when bombarded by biased media. (PDF)
• 5 April '08: Women. Good and Bad Gender Equality. (PDF)
• 1 Mar '08: Friendly Bosses. How friendly is too friendly? (PDF)
• 19 Jan '08: Corporate Backtracking. How to turn around gracefully? (PDF)
• 5 Jan '08: Sophistication. Is it a French conspiracy? (PDF)
• 1 Dec '07: Human Virus. Are we a virus on the earth? And is the global warming a bout of fever? (PDF)
• 27 Oct '07: Rumor Mills. What to do when the rumor mills turn. (PDF)
• 20 Oct '07: Stress and Sense of Proportion. Knowing your place in the cosmos may help you combat corporate stress. (PDF)
• 29 Sep '07: Super Specializations. When knowing too much is the same as knowing too little. (PDF)
• 15 Sep '07: Internet Reading. How our reading habits have changed to browsing habits. (PDF)
• 1 Sep '07: Email Wars. How to inflict humiliation using email. (PDF)
• 25 Aug '07: Workplace Knowledge. To Know or Not to Know? That is the question. (PDF)
• 11 Aug '07: Married to the Job till death do us part. Why do we work so hard? (PDF)
• 28 Jul '07: Spousal Indifference. Our busy work schedules are beginning to burn us out and eat into our personal, quality time. Are we getting too busy to listen to our spouses as well? (PDF)
• 21 Jul '07: Foreign Talent. Singapore welcomes foreign talent with open arms and, more importantly, generous expatriate packages. Are we paying too much? (PDF)
• 14 Jul '07: Performance Appraisals. Are they the right tools for innovation management? (PDF)
• 7 Jul '07: Resignations. How and why should we handle staff resignations with grace? (PDF)

Wilmott Magazine

• Mar '08: Quant Talent. How to retain quants? (PDF)
• Jan '08: Interview: Excerpts from the cover story.
• Jan '08: Benford's Law, as it applies to your tax returns! (PDF)
• Nov '07: Singaporean Quants. Life of a quantitative finance professional in Singapore. (PDF)

Other Magazines

Coming Soon!

Selected Articles

Physics

• "Are Radio Sources and Gamma Ray Bursts Luminal Booms?" (PDF)
  Journal Ref: Int . J. Mod. Phys. D Vol. 16, No. 6 (2007) pp. 983–1000

  Top Accessed Article in IJMP-D in Jan 2008!

  Abstract: The softening of the GRB afterglow bears remarkable similarities to the frequency evolution in a sonic boom. At the front end of the sonic boom cone, the frequency is infinite, much like a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB). Inside the cone, the frequency rapidly decreases to infrasonic ranges and the sound source appears at two places at the same time, mimicking the double- lobed radio sources. Although a “luminal” boom violates the Lorentz invariance and is therefore forbidden, it is tempting to work out the details and compare them with existing data. This temptation is further enhanced by the observed superluminality in the celestial objects associated with radio sources and some GRBs. In this article, we calculate the temporal and spatial variation of observed frequencies from a hypothetical luminal boom and show remarkable similarity between our calculations and current observations.
• "The new ALEPH silicon vertex detector" (PDF)
  Journal Ref: Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Vol. A409 (1998) pp. 157–160
  Abstract: The ALEPH collaboration, in view of the importance of effective vertex detection for the Higgs boson search at LEP 2, decided to upgrade the previous vertex detector. Main changes were an increased length (±20 cm), a higher granularity for rφ view (50 μm), a new preamplifier (MX7 rad hard chip), a polymide (upilex) fan-out on z side to carry the signals from the strips to the front-end electronics outside the fiducial region reducing consequently the passive material in the central region by a factor of two. The detector, the running experience and its performance will be described.
• "The Inclusive Decays B → D X and B → D^*X" (Thesis Work) (PDF)
  Journal Ref: Phys. Rev. D 56 (1997) pp. 3783–3802
  Abstract: We report new measurements of the differential and total branching ratios for inclusive Bdecay to D⁰, D⁺ and D^*+ and the first measurement of the same quantities for inclusive Bdecay to D^*0. Here B is the mixture of B_d and B_u from ϒ(4S) decay. Furthermore, since more than one charm particle (or antiparticle) of the same kind can be produced in B decay, here "inclusive Bbranching ratio" is used to mean the average number of charm particles and their antiparticles of a certain species produced in B decay. We obtain the following results (the first error is statistical, the second systematic of this analysis, the third is propagated from other measurements): B(B → D⁰X) = (0.636 ± 0.014 ± 0.019 ±0.018), B(B → D⁺X) = (0.235 ± 0.009 ± 0.009 ± 0.024), B(B → D^*0X) = (0.247 ± 0.012 ±0.018 ± 0.018), B(B → D^*+X) = (0.239 ± 0.011 ± 0.014 ± 0.009). The following ratio of branching ratios is not affected by most of the systematic errors: B(B → D^*0X)/B(B →D^*+X) = (1.03±0.07±0.09±0.08). We also report the first measurement of the momentum-dependent D^*0polarization and a new measurement of the D^*+ polarization in inclusive B decay. Using these measurements and other CLEO results and making some additional assumptions, we calculate the average number of c and anti c quarks produced in B decay to be <n_c> = 1.10 ± 0.05.
• "Analysis of hadronic transitions in ϒ(3S) decays" (Thesis Work) (PDF)
  Journal Ref: Phys. Rev. D 49 (1994) pp. 40–57
  Abstract: Using the CLEO II detector, we have measured the branching fractions for ϒ(3S)→ππϒ(1S), ϒ(3S)→ππϒ(2S), and the cascade ϒ(3S)→ϒ(2S)+X, ϒ(2S)→π⁺π^-ϒ(1 S), analyzing the exclusive mode where the daughter ϒ state decays to a e⁺e^- or μ⁺μ^- pair, as well as the inclusive π⁺π^- transitions where the final ϒ state decays into hadrons. Properties of the ππ system are analyzed. Searches for the cascade decay ϒ(3S)→π⁺π^- h_b, h_b→γη_b and ϒ(3S)→π⁰h_b were also performed.

Neuroscience

• "Robust Classification of EEG Signal for Brain-Computer Interface" (PDF)
  Journal Ref: IEEE Tran. Neural Systems and Rehab. Engineering Vol. 14 (2006) pp. 24–29
  Abstract: We report the implementation of a text input application (speller) based on the P300 event related potential. We obtain high accuracies by using an SVM classifier and a novel feature. These techniques enable us to maintain fast performance without sacrificing the accuracy, thus making the speller usable in an online mode. In order to further improve the usability, we perform various studies on the data with a view to minimizing the training time required. We present data collected from nine healthy subjects, along with the high accuracies (of the order of 95% or more) measured online. We show that the training time can be further reduced by a factor of two from its current value of about 20 minutes. High accuracy, fast learning and online performance make this P300 speller a potential communication tool for severely disabled individuals, who have lost all other means of communication and are otherwise cut off from the world, provided their disability does not interfere with the performance of the speller.

Philosophy

• Perception, Physics and the Role of Light in Philosophy  ( On-line version) ( PDF)
  Journal Ref: The Philosopher, the journal of the Philosophical Society of England. To appear in Spring 2008 [Volume LXXXXVI No. 1]
  Abstract: This article examines the role of light in perception, physics and philosophy. Based on the similarities between metaphysical and spiritual or philosophical views on space and time, the article sheds new light on modern physics -- the special theory of relativity, in particular.

Spirituality

• "The Philosophy of Special Relativity: A Comparison between Indian and Western Interpretations" ( PDF)
  Journal Ref: Omega - Indian Journal of Science and Religion, Vol. VI, (Dec. 2007), pp 138-150.
  Abstract: The philosophical basis of the special theory of relativity can be interpreted in terms of the Brahman-Maya distinction in Advaita. If we think of space and time as part of Maya, we can partly understand the importance that the speed of light in our reality, as enshrined in special relativity. Similarly, in Western phenomenalism, space and time are considered perceptual and cognitive constructs created out our sensory inputs. From this perspective, the special status of light and its speed can be understood through a phenomenological study of our senses and the perceptual limitations to our phenomenal notions of space and time. This remarkable parallel between the phenomenological and Advaita interpretations of special relativity points to an exciting possibility of unifying the Eastern and Western schools of thought to a certain degree.

Coming Soon

• Column in Wilmott Magazine (May 2008): Stress Management. Handling the inevitable stress in the highflying corporate world of global markets and quantitative finance. (PDF)
• Column in Wilmott Magazine (Sept 2008): Quantitative Development. How to design a perfect trading system. (PDF)
• The Unreal Universe. Submitted to the "Philosophy Now" magazine. ( PDF)
• "Perceptual Effects in Relativity and Astrophysics" (PDF)
  Journal Ref: Gal. Electrodynamics (To appear in 2008.)
  Abstract: Cognitive neuroscience treats space and time as our brain's representation of our sensory inputs. In this view, our perceptual reality is only a distant and convenient mapping of the physical processes causing the sensory inputs. Sound is a mapping of auditory inputs, and space is a representation of visual inputs. Any limitation in the chain of sensing has a specific manifestation on the cognitive representation that is our reality. One physical limitation of our visual sensing is the finite speed of light, which manifests itself as a basic property of our space-time. In this article, we look at the consequences of the limited speed of our perception, namely the speed of light, and show that they are remarkably similar to the coordinate transformation in special relativity. From this observation, and inspired by the notion that space is merely a cognitive model created out of light inputs, we examine the implications of treating the special theory of relativity as a formalism for describing the perceptual effects due to the finite speed of light. Using this framework, we show that we can unify and explain a wide array of seemingly unrelated astrophysical and cosmological phenomena. When we identify the manifestations of the limitations in our perception and cognitive representation, we can understand the consequent constraints on our space and time, leading to a new understanding of astrophysics and cosmology.
• "Light Travel Time Effects and Cosmological Features" (PDF)
  Journal Ref: [Under review]
  Abstract: In a recent this article, we presented new model for the temporal and spatial variation of the spectrum of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) and radio sources based on light travel time effects (LTT). Most of the observed features of GRB and radio jets can be explained in terms of the LTT effects in a luminal boom, although luminal booms violate Lorentz invariance and are therefore considered forbidden. Light travel time effects hold a possible explanation for certain cosmological features as well. In this article, we continue the analysis and show that LTT effects can provide a good framework to describe such cosmological features as the observation of an expanding universe, and the cosmic microwave background radiation. The unification of these seemingly distinct phenomena at vastly different length and time scales, along with its conceptual simplicity, can be regarded as indicators of validity of this framework.
• "Spacetime as Perceptual Constructs and the Speed of Light" ( PDF)
  Journal Ref: [Under Review]
  Abstract: If we think of space and time as perceptual and cognitive constructs created out our sensory inputs, we can partly understand the importance that the speed of light seems in our reality. This specialness of light is enshrined in the special theory of relativity. In this article, we argue that the special status of light and its speed can be understood through a phenomenological study of our senses and the perceptual limitations to our phenomenal notions of space and time.
• "Advaita and Relativity" (PDF)
  Journal Ref: [Under Review]
  Abstract: The special theory of relativity attributes a unique status to the speed of light in our space and time the. In this article, we argue that the lofty status of light and its speed can be understood in terms of the Brahman-Maya distinction in Advaita.
• "Quantization Errors in NDF Implied Rates" (PDF)
  Journal Ref: [Under Review]
  Abstract: Interest rates implied by non-deliverable forwards (NDF) suffer from errors due to the step size of market quotes (the "quantization" errors). The effect of the quantization is more pronounced for short maturities than long ones. In this article, we show that the NDF prices when quoted in terms of swap points are roughly linear as a function of maturity with good theoretical justification. Using this extra information and simple regression fitting techniques, we demonstrate how the effect of quantization in swap point quotes can be minimized. Eliminating this source of spurious uncertainty in NDF implied rates helps stabilize marked to market values thereby enabling financial institutions to pay attention to the effects of real market movements.

Quantitative Finance

• 
  
• Flexible Derivatives Pricing Tool (Help Documentation)
  
  Main Features:
  1. Dynamic definition of new products. New products can be defined completely interactively.
  2. Dynamic definition of models, pricing functions.
  3. Ability to generate pricing function templates and instructions for creating DLLs. (The program writes out ready to compile C++ code using the product and model definition!)
  4. Ability to save and load product and model definitions. (The program uses XML to save products and models.)
  5. Ability to save and load pricing scenarios (in XML).
  6. Built-in plotting options to visualize the valuations. The program provides options to plot any output as a function of one or two inputs, or one output vs. another parametrically as you vary any one input. The 3D plots (output vs. two inputs) can be plotted as surfaces or color charts. They can even be sliced and diced. All plots can be exported to Excel (i.e., as a CSV file) for further manipulationrs. The plot ranges are customizable.
  7. Finite difference computation of Greeks. All possible sensitivities (first and second derivatives) of any output vs. any input can be interactively computed. The user can select the interval to shock the ouput etc. All finite difference computation scenarios can be exported to Excel.
  8. Supports Excel export of pricing scenarios and plots.
  9. Supports import from Excel – dates and vectors. The user can cut and paste from Excel sheet.
  10. Extensive data types support – double, integer, date, vector, matrix, date vector, and even user-definable menus.
  11. PDF export of plots for printing.
  
  Context Sensitive Help:

  Almost all the buttons and fields in the Derivatives Pricing Tool have tooltips associated with them. These tooltips are dynamically generated, and give a quick indication of the actions to be taken or the values expected. In addition, all the different GUI modules have a “Help” button, which will bring up a context sensitive help specific to the window the user is working with. This help window can also be accessed using the Window’s standard shortcut - F1 key.

  If you are interested in using Derivatives Pricing Tool, contact the author.