The 5^th in the series entitled International Conference ‘Applications of Physics in Financial Analysis’ will be held in Torino, from June 29 to July 1, 2006.  The aim of the conference is to bring together scientists, both economists and physicists, interested in problems in economics and finance. Previous meetings (Dublin 1999, Liege 2000, London 2001 and Warsaw 2003) have served to build the community and foster links with disciplines such as econometrics and statistics. A wide range of topics has been covered including, for example, analysis of time series, option pricing, agent models and game theory.

It is now increasingly recognised by both the physics and economic communities that a number of conceptual and methodological approaches based on tools of statistical mechanics may be employed to understand particular economic phenomena in terms of  the underlying direct interaction of agents and to model the dynamics of heterogeneous populations of economic agents. In addition to traditional economic notions of coordination via the price system and strategic interaction, models of collective phenomena are now making their appearance in many branches of microeconomics to decribe, for example, herding behavior in financial markets.  Other instances of the complexity approaches, which is familar to physicists appear in evolutionary game theory, demand theory, behavioral economics and social economics. In macroeconomics and econometrics, there is a new appreciation of the role of individual heterogeneity which has provided new insights into economic aggregation. New models of the theory of growth, based on non-linear and stochastic processes have emerged and are being tested against real data. In finance, the analysis of time series, distributions of asset prices and price returns with attendant phenomena, such as scaling and universality, is leading to radically new insights and new questions, both theoretical and empirical, about the functioning of financial markets.  All these approaches employ analytical and numerical tools from what has become known as the science of complexity, a new interdisciplinary approach, initially used for the analysis of systems with strongly interacting subunits in physics, biology, engineering.  The aim of this interdisciplinary conference is to provide a forum for discussion that can examine the potential these tools and technologies offer, strengthen existing links and build new ties between the physics and economics communities. Thereby we hope to contribute to further new progress and developments in these important areas of science.

The List of Presentations can be downloaded here.

Program (under construction)can be downloaded here.

The Abstract Booklet can be downloaded here.

Poster Size: width=95cm, height=215 cm

The abstract (no longer than 2500 characters) must be submitted by 1 March 2006 . The abstract template can be downloaded here.
The LATEX and PDF files of the abstract must be sent by email as attachments to apfa5@polito.it . Please use Abstract "Presenting Author Name" APFA5 as subject
 

The invited talks and the contributions, accepted after standard referral process, will be published in the Proceedings of the Conference, as a special issue of an International Journal. The submission of a paper implies that it represents original work not previously published and not considered for publication elsewhere. A copy of the Proceedings will be sent to every registered participant. The deadline for manuscript submission is 30 July 2006. Details concerning manuscript length and format are posted here . The Proceedings of the APFA5 can be downloaded here:

APFA 5 Proceedings.

The Proceedings of the previous editions can be downloaded here:

APFA 4 Physica A, 344, Issue: 1-2, (2004).

APFA 3 European Physical Journal B, 27, (2002).

Payment of the registration fee and of the hotel (deposit + balance) must be made by bank transfer to :

APFA5 Conference - Dip. Fisica - Politecnico di Torino
BANK NAME: UNICREDIT BANCA S.p.A. - Agenzia Politecnico 60
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 000002551101    ABI: 02008    CAB: 01160
SWIFT CODE (BIC): UNCRITB1AG0
IBAN: IT51N0200801160000002551101
BANK ADDRESS: via Enrico D'Ovidio 6, I-10129 Torino, ITALY

Alternatively, the balance for the accommodation can be paid 'cash' at the arrival. We regret that we cannot accept payment by credit card.
VAT NUMBER (Politecnico di Torino): 00518460019

Room reservation is made only for registered people after the registration fee and a deposit of 150 € per person per room have been received.
Please book your room filling the online ROOM RESERVATION FORM
The rates, for reservation made by 20 May 2006, are :

Villa Gualino, viale Settimio Severo, 63, Torino (3 stars) (Rates are in Euros, per room, per night. Breakfast and 10% V.A.T. included. Located in the hills of Torino.) :
Single room € 80 (Single Rooms at Villa Gualino are fully booked! No More Available Option!!)
Double room € 110
Double room (single use) € 100

Hotel Concord, via Lagrange, 47, Torino (4 stars) (Rates are in Euros, per room, per night. American buffet breakfast and 10% V.A.T. included. Located in the city center of Torino and connected to Villa Gualino twice a day by shuttle busses. Public transportation is also available) :
Single room € 110
Double room € 130
Double room (single use) € 120


IMPORTANT NOTE:
(1) The room must be reserved for 4 nights, check in 28 JUNE 2006 - check out 2 JULY 2006.
(2) The quotes are per day (bed and breakfast).


Alternative accommodations can be found at the website: Turismo Torino

Bus Transfer

Shuttle bus transfers from and to Turin Caselle Airport will be provided respectively on 28 June (arrival) and 2 July (departure). The bus transfer will be available exclusively: for a minimum number of 8 registered passengers and upon explicit reservation by email by 5 June 2006


To book your transfer: Please fill the online BUS RESERVATION form. Please specify: (i) flight number, (ii) airline and (iii) arrival/departure time in the body of the email.

The BUS transfer timetable can be downloaded here TRANSFER SCHEDULE: TIMETABLE Transfers will be reserved on a "first come, first served" basis.

The Conference will be held at the conference facility Villa Gualino, viale Settimio Severo, 63 Tel. +390116603555 Torino. Torino is located in the north-western part (Region Piedmont) of Italy and can be reached easily through its airport (how to reach Torino by plane), by train (how to reach Torino by train) and by car (how to reach Torino by car). Further information can be found at: more info
The Region is called Piedmont (more info) because it lies at the foot of the mountains with many famous ski resorts such as Sestriere. In 2006 Turin will be host of the XX Winter Olympic Games (XX Winter Olympic Games) Piedmont has a number of natural beauties: impressive mountains, gentle hills, green lowlands and charming lakes. The whole area is also rich with history and art. For instance Turin is a centre of Baroque art and has one of the world's most important Egyptian Museums. And its Cathedral holds the "Holy Shroud", believed to have been Christ's shroud. Furthermore, delicious food, good wines and the famous truffles abound in Turin and throughout Piedmont. The Roman Emperor Augustus built Turin (Augusta Taurinorum) two thousand years ago as a camp for the troops he sent to protect the Roman state’s northern borders. It remained almost unchanged, complete with its ancient walls, for centuries, during the domination both of the Longobards and later of the Franks, as well as during the early middle ages, until it was reborn under Duke Emanuele Filiberto, who in 1563 made it the Capital of the Dukedom of Savoy. In 1720 events led to the creation of the Kingdom of Sardinia under the sovereignty of Vittorio Amedeo II. From 1861 to 1865, Turin was the first capital of the kingdom of Italy elevated by King Vittorio Emanuele II.

Please contact apfa5@polito.it for any question related to the 5th International Conference "Application of Physics in Financial Analysis". If you are not in the APFA5 mailing list, send an e-mail to apfa5@polito.it using "add me to APFA5 mailing list" as subject.

Conference Secretariat

Erminia Catalano
Claudia Roveglia
E-mail:   apfa5@polito.it