CORVALLIS - About 125 mathematical experts from more than 15 countries will attend the 25th International Conference on Stochastic Processes and its Applications from July 5-11 at Oregon State University.

The scholars who will attend this meeting study stochastic processes, a term referring to the change over time of quantities affected by random impulses. Examples include everything from coin tosses to stock market prices, insurance claims, timber yields and atmospheric turbulence.

The conference is held under the auspices of the Bernoulli Society and will be organized by OSU's Department of Mathematics.

An expert in financial mathematics, which is one of the most current and important applications of stochastic processes, will speak on July 7 at 7 p.m. in the LaSells Stewart Center. David Heath, a mathematician at Cornell University and Carnegie-Melon University, will provide a non-technical explanation of the principles underlying the pricing theory used in stock options and other securities. His lecture is free and open to the public.

The conference and lecture are supported by funding from the National Security Agency, National Science Foundation, Army Research Office, Mr. And Mrs. Forrest Richen of Portland, and Standard Insurance Company of Portland.

Source: 

Ed Waymire, 541-737-5186

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