An autonomous car (driverless car,[1] self-driving car,[2] robotic car[3]) is a vehicle that is

capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input.[4]

Autonomous vehicles detect surroundings using radar, lidar, GPS, odometry, and computer
vision. Advanced control systems interpret sensory information to identify appropriate navigation
paths, as well as obstacles and relevant signage.[5][6] Autonomous cars have control systems that
are capable of analyzing sensory data to distinguish between different cars on the road, which is
very useful in planning a path to the desired destination.[7]
Some demonstrative systems, precursory to autonomous cars, date back to the 1920s and 30s.
The first self-sufficient (and therefore, truly autonomous) cars appeared in the 1980s,
with Carnegie Mellon University's Navlab and ALV projects in 1984 and MercedesBenz and Bundeswehr University Munich's Eureka Prometheus Project in 1987. Since then,
numerous major companies and research organizations have developed working prototype
autonomous vehicles.
Machine learning is a subfield of computer science[1] (more particularly soft computing) that
evolved from the study of pattern recognition andcomputational learning theory in artificial
intelligence.[1] In 1959, Arthur Samuel defined machine learning as a "Field of study that gives
computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed".[2] Machine learning explores
the study and construction of algorithms that can learn from and make predictions
on data.[3] Such algorithms operate by building a model from an example training set of input
observations in order to make data-driven predictions or decisions expressed as
outputs,[4]:2 rather than following strictly static program instructions.
Machine learning is closely related to (and often overlaps with) computational statistics; a
discipline which also focuses in prediction-making through the use of computers. It has strong
ties to mathematical optimization, which delivers methods, theory and application domains to the
field. Machine learning is employed in a range of computing tasks where designing and
programming explicit algorithms is unfeasible. Example applications include spam
filtering, optical character recognition (OCR),[5] search engines and computer vision. Machine
learning is sometimes conflated withdata mining,[6] where the latter sub-field focuses more on
exploratory data analysis and is known as unsupervised learning.[4]:vii[7]
Within the field of data analytics, machine learning is a method used to devise complex models
and algorithms that lend themselves to prediction - in commercial use, this is known as predictive
analytics. These analytical models allow researchers, data scientists, engineers, and analysts to
"produce reliable, repeatable decisions and results" and uncover "hidden insights" through
learning from historical relationships and trends in the data.[8]
Mathematical finance, also known as quantitative finance, is a field of applied mathematics,
concerned with financial markets. Generally, mathematical finance will derive and extend
themathematical or numerical models without necessarily establishing a link to financial theory,
taking observed market prices as input. Mathematical consistency is required, not compatibility
with economic theory. Thus, for example, while a financial economist might study the structural

reasons why a company may have a certain share price, a financial mathematician may take the
share price as a given, and attempt to use stochastic calculus to obtain the corresponding value
of derivatives of the stock (see: Valuation of options; Financial modeling). The fundamental
theorem of arbitrage-free pricing is one of the key theorems in mathematical finance, while
the BlackScholes equation and formula are amongst the key results.[1]
Mathematical finance also overlaps heavily with the fields of computational finance and financial
engineering. The latter focuses on applications and modeling, often by help of stochastic asset
models (see: Quantitative analyst), while the former focuses, in addition to analysis, on building
tools of implementation for the models. In general, there exist two separate branches of finance
that require advanced quantitative techniques: derivatives pricing on the one hand,
and risk- and portfolio management on the other.[2]
Many universities offer degree and research programs in mathematical finance; see Master of
Mathematical Finance.