<p>An international team has come up with the formula which uses the ‘theory of optimal stopping’ - a sequential decision-making process used in finance and medical trials to pinpoint when to take an action to maximise expected rewards and minimise costs.<br /><br />“Probability isn’t the most romantic basis for a marriage but while the formula won’t fit everyone it does seem to fit a lot of couples, whether through accident or design. “The Marriage Problem is well known to mathematicians: basically comes down to working out how long you’re prepared to wait to marry and how many marriage prospects you’re likely to meet during that time.<br /><br />“Our formula tells you optimal age at which to propose and have the highest probability of achieving your goal. <br /><br />“One could argue that the current, less-structured approach to picking a marriage partner hasn’t been 100 per cent successful, so perhaps it’s time for men to consider following a stricter set of rules when it comes to marriage.<br /><br />“Maths helps us understand the world and how seemingly arbitrary actions actually add up into patterns - from relationships right through to robotics,” Prof Dooley said.</p>
<p>An international team has come up with the formula which uses the ‘theory of optimal stopping’ - a sequential decision-making process used in finance and medical trials to pinpoint when to take an action to maximise expected rewards and minimise costs.<br /><br />“Probability isn’t the most romantic basis for a marriage but while the formula won’t fit everyone it does seem to fit a lot of couples, whether through accident or design. “The Marriage Problem is well known to mathematicians: basically comes down to working out how long you’re prepared to wait to marry and how many marriage prospects you’re likely to meet during that time.<br /><br />“Our formula tells you optimal age at which to propose and have the highest probability of achieving your goal. <br /><br />“One could argue that the current, less-structured approach to picking a marriage partner hasn’t been 100 per cent successful, so perhaps it’s time for men to consider following a stricter set of rules when it comes to marriage.<br /><br />“Maths helps us understand the world and how seemingly arbitrary actions actually add up into patterns - from relationships right through to robotics,” Prof Dooley said.</p>
