Introduction to econophysics: Towards a new step in the evolution of physical sciences

This paper is a presentation of an autonomous area of knowledge (called econophysics) which has emerged at the frontier of physical sciences and economics. Although this field is in its infancy, an increasing number of papers on econophysics have been published in physics journals, several meeting series dedicated to this topic are regularly organised and moreover, new university education dedicated to econophysics has recently appeared in some universities. This article aims to give a clear and succinct theoretical and institutional presentation of econophysics by also presenting the major contextual factors that have favoured the emergence of this new approach. The last section will also offer a quick overview of the existing studies developed by econophysicists.