Mathematics Topics Overview

Contents
Objective ................................................................................................................................................. 2

Probability ............................................................................................................................................... 2

Mathematics ........................................................................................................................................... 2

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Objective
To cover a diverse set of topics in mathematics, probability, and statistics that are relevant
for a quant interview.

Probability
Probability questions are the most unpredictable type of interview questions. It ranges from
general problems such as roll of a dice to the questions about the stochastic processes. An
intuitive understanding of the key concepts, coupled with a sufficient amount of practice
will help you excel in the probability questions.

1. Basic Concepts
 Random Variable
 Probability distributions
 Permutations and combinations
 Martingale

2. Conditional probability
 Bayes theorem
 Law of total probability

3. Stochastic or random process

Mathematics
A quant mostly deals in applied mathematics. It is therefore common to ask general
mathematical questions based on mathematical reasoning or brain teasers. Question
difficulty ranges from very basic high school types questions to high-level mathematics with
complex analysis.

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1. Statistics
 Normal Distributions
 Log Normal Distributions
 Binomial Distribution
 Poisson Distribution
 Exponential Distribution
 Monte-Carlo Simulation
 Z-score, hypothesis testing
 Different types of tests: t-test, F-test, chi2 test
 Regression Analysis

2. Linear Algebra
 Vector and matrix multiplication
 Matrix operations (transpose, determinant, inverse etc.)
 Eigenvalue and eigenvectors
 Matrix decomposition

3. Calculus
 Derivatives
 Product rule, chain rule, power rule, L'Hospital's rule
 Partial derivative
 Integration
 Fourier transformation

4. Logical Puzzles

5. Brain teasers

This is a brief list of topics that one should prepare for a quant interview. In the upcoming
sections, we will test some of these concepts through multiple choice questions.

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