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I'm sorry if this question is too vague or too simple. I'm actually finishing my masters in Pure Mathematics this year and I was looking into the field of quantitative trading. I am pursuing my PhD in Pure Mathematics first, however my boyfriend is a quantitative trader, and well I have no clue what he does. When I mean I don't know what he does, I don't mean that I don't understand the mathematics. I can understand the math however I have no idea how it applies to trading, or in fact what quantitative trading even is. Each time I look it up, I am bombarded with either tons of code or how to prepare for trading interviews...

When I look up how to prepare for trading interviews, I see that generally what is being asked are brain teasers, mental math and probability questions, how relevant are these things to the field or are they just a way of weeding out bad applicants? Because I can answer all of these questions but I still have no clue what trading even is..

Can someone provide me with a link or any resource where I can see what a quantitative trader actually does on a day to day basis, or what the differences are between different kinds of traders and the requirements?

user477465
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    This is perhaps too broad to qualify as there other similar questions and answers on the site which have been closed. But for starters, I think it’s helpful to differentiate between investing and trading in terms of time frame. Quantitive investing is typically in reference to strategy which generates returns; trading is often simply a way to execute on a strategy... but not always. Please reference https://quant.stackexchange.com/questions/2387/which-algorithm-should-i-look-into-to-kick-off-my-research-in-algorithmic-tradin. – David Addison Feb 24 '18 at 04:27
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    Quantitative trading is a very broad term. I like to think about it as the identification of non random patterns in the market. The base case is an efficient market where prices are totally random, thus you cannot make money systematically. But if you can identify patterns of non randomness (let's say a stock that goes up on Friday usually goes up on Monday as well) then you can make money. A quantitative trader could be looking for such patterns. – dm63 Feb 24 '18 at 06:31
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    If your boyfriend is a quant trader, perhaps you should ask him? – LazyCat Feb 24 '18 at 15:21

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