A stochastic differential equation (SDE) is a differential equation in which one or more of the terms is a stochastic process, resulting in a solution which is also a stochastic process. SDEs have many applications throughout pure mathematics and are used to model various behaviours of stochastic models such as stock prices, random growth models or physical systems that are subjected to thermal fluctuations. SDEs have a random differential that is in the most basic case random white noise calculated as the derivative of a Brownian motion or more generally a semimartingale. However, other types of random behaviour are possible, such as jump processes like Lévy processes or semimartingales with jumps. Random differential equations are conjugate to stochastic differential equations. Stochastic differential equations can also be extended to differential manifolds. Background Stochastic differential equations originated in the theory of Brownian motion, in the work of Albert Einstein and Smoluchowski. These early examples were linear stochastic differential equations, also called 'Langevin' equations after French physicist Langevin, describing the motion of a harmonic oscillator subject to a random force. The mathematical theory of stochastic differential equations was developed in the 1940s through the groundbreaking work of Japanese mathematician Kiyosi Itô, who introduced the concept of stochastic integral and initiated the study of nonlinear stochastic differential equations. Another approach was later proposed by Russian physicist Stratonovich, leading to a calculus similar to ordinary calculus. Terminology The most common form of SDEs in the literature is an ordinary differential equation with the right hand side perturbed by a term dependent on a white noise variable. In most cases, SDEs are understood as continuous time limit of the corresponding stochastic difference equations. This understanding of SDEs is ambiguous and must be complemented by a proper mathematical definition of the corresponding integral. Such a mathematical definition was first proposed by Kiyosi Itô in the 1940s, leading to what is known today as the Itô calculus. Another construction was later proposed by Russian physicist Stratonovich, leading to what is known as the Stratonovich integral. The Itô integral and Stratonovich integral are related, but different, objects and the choice between them depends on the application considered. The Itô calculus is based on the concept of non-anticipativeness or causality, which is natural in applications where the variable is time. The Stratonovich calculus, on the other hand, has rules which resemble ordinary calculus and has intrinsic geometric properties which render