About

Prof. Dr. Joerg Osterrieder

Professor of Finance and Data Science

About the Author

Joerg Osterrieder is a Professor of Finance and Data Science at FHGR (University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons) in Chur, Switzerland.

His research focuses on the intersection of quantitative finance, machine learning, and natural language processing. He has published extensively on applications of deep learning to financial markets, algorithmic trading, and risk management.

Academic Affiliations

FHGR - University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons, Switzerland
Member of the Digital-AI-Finance research group

Research Interests

Natural Language Processing and Language Models
Machine Learning in Finance
Quantitative Risk Management
Algorithmic Trading

About This Book

"Predicting the Next Word: A Mathematical Foundation of Language Models" is a comprehensive PhD-level textbook that traces the complete evolution of language modeling from Claude Shannon's foundational 1948 paper through to modern large language models.

The book is distinguished by its rigorous mathematical treatment combined with a visual-first pedagogy. With over 360 publication-quality figures, readers can develop deep intuition alongside formal understanding.

Key Features

Comprehensive Coverage: From n-grams to transformers to RLHF
Mathematical Rigor: PhD-level treatment with full derivations
Visual Learning: 364 figures with 3D visualizations
Reproducible: All figure source code included
Unified Theme: Every chapter connects to "predicting the next word"

Publication Details

Publisher:	Springer
Series:	Texts in Computer Science
Pages:	~380
Figures:	364
Year:	2025

How to Cite

BibTeX

@book{osterrieder2025predicting,
  title     = {Predicting the Next Word: A Mathematical Foundation
               of Language Models},
  author    = {Osterrieder, Joerg},
  publisher = {Springer},
  series    = {Texts in Computer Science},
  year      = {2025},
  address   = {Cham, Switzerland}
}

APA Style

Osterrieder, J. (2025). Predicting the Next Word: A Mathematical Foundation of Language Models. Springer.

Contact

Academic Inquiries

joerg.osterrieder@fhgr.ch

FHGR, Chur, Switzerland

Technical Issues

Open an Issue on GitHub

For bug reports, figure errors, or technical corrections.

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the support of colleagues, students, and the broader research community. Special thanks to:

The research community at FHGR
Springer Nature for their editorial support
The open-source community for matplotlib, numpy, and related tools
All researchers whose work forms the foundation of this textbook