Monte Carlo Euler approximations of HJM term structure financial models

We present Monte Carlo-Euler methods for a weak approximation problem related to the Heath-Jarrow-Morton (HJM) term structure model, based on Itô stochastic differential equations in infinite dimensional spaces, and prove strong and weak error convergence estimates. The weak error estimates are based on stochastic flows and discrete dual backward problems, and they can be used to identify different error contributions arising from time and maturity discretization as well as the classical statistical error due to finite sampling. Explicit formulas for efficient computation of sharp error approximation are included. Due to the structure of the HJM models considered here, the computational effort devoted to the error estimates is low compared to the work to compute Monte Carlo solutions to the HJM model. Numerical examples with known exact solution are included in order to show the behavior of the estimates.     

Approximation for non-smooth functionals of stochastic differential equations with irregular drift

This paper aims at developing a systematic study for the weak rate of convergence of the Euler–Maruyama scheme for stochastic differential equations with very irregular drift and constant diffusion coefficients. We apply our method to obtain the rates of approximation for the expectation of various non-smooth functionals of both stochastic differential equations and killed diffusion. We also apply our method to the study of the weak approximation of reflected stochastic differential equations whose drift is Hölder continuous.     

Coupling Importance Sampling and Multilevel Monte Carlo using Sample Average Approximation

In this work, we propose a smart idea to couple importance sampling and Multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC). We advocate a per level approach with as many importance sampling parameters as the number of levels, which enables us to handle the different levels independently. The search for parameters is carried out using sample average approximation, which basically consists in applying deterministic optimisation techniques to a Monte Carlo approximation rather than resorting to stochastic approximation. Our innovative estimator leads to a robust and efficient procedure reducing both the discretization error (the bias) and the variance for a given computational effort. In the setting of discretized diffusions, we prove that our estimator satisfies a strong law of large numbers and a central limit theorem with optimal limiting variance, in the sense that this is the variance achieved by the best importance sampling measure (among the class of changes we consider), which is however non tractable. Finally, we illustrate the efficiency of our method on several numerical challenges coming from quantitative finance and show that it outperforms the standard MLMC estimator.     

An Adaptive Hybrid Spectral Method for Stochastic Helmholtz Problems

The implementation of an adaptive hybrid spectral method for Helmholtz equations with random parameters is addressed in this work. New error indicators for generalized polynomial chaos for stochastic approximations and spectral element methods for physical approximations are developed, and systematic adaptive strategies are proposed associated with these error indicators. Numerical results show that these error indicators provide effective estimates for the approximation errors, and the overall adaptive procedure results in efficient approximation method for the stochastic Helmholtz equations.     

An efficient approximation for stochastic differential equations on the partition ofsymmetricalirst

In certain applications of stochastic differential equations a numerical solution must be found corresponding to a particular sample path of the driving process. The order of convergence of approximations based on regular samples of the path is limited, and some approximations are asymptotically efficient in that they minimise the leading coefficient in the expansion of mean-square errors as power series in the sample step size. This paper considers approximations based on irregular samples taken at the passage times of the driving process through a series of thresholds. Such approximations can involve less computation than their regular sample counterparts, particularly for real-time applications. The orders of convergence of the Euler and Milshtein approximations are derived and a new approximation is defined which is asymptotically efficient with respect to the irregular samples. Its asymptotic mean-square error is less than half that of efficient approximations based on regular sample     

Weighted BMO and discrete time hedging within the Black-Scholes model

The paper combines two objects rather different at first glance: spaces of stochastic processes having weighted bounded mean oscillation (weighted BMO) and the approximation of certain stochastic integrals, driven by the geometric Brownian motion, by integrals over piece-wise constant integrands. The consideration of the approximation error with respect to weighted BMO implies L_p and uniform distributional estimates for the approximation error by a John-Nirenberg type theorem. The general results about weighted BMO are given in the first part of the paper and applied to our approximation problem in the second one.     

Discretization and simulation of stochastic differential equations

We discuss both pathwise and mean-square convergence of several approximation schemes to stochastic differential equations. We then estimate the corresponding speeds of convergence, the error being either the mean square error or the error induced by the approximation on the value of the expectation of a functional of the solution. We finally give and comment on a few comparative simulation results.     

Nonsynchronous covariation process and limit theorems

An asymptotic distribution theory of the nonsynchronous covariation process for continuous semimartingales is presented. Two continuous semimartingales are sampled at stopping times in a nonsynchronous manner. Those sampling times possibly depend on the history of the stochastic processes and themselves. The nonsynchronous covariation process converges to the usual quadratic covariation of the semimartingales as the maximum size of the sampling intervals tends to zero. We deal with the case where the limiting variation process of the normalized approximation error is random and prove the convergence to mixed normality, or convergence to a conditional Gaussian martingale. A class of consistent estimators for the asymptotic variation process based on kernels is proposed, which will be useful for statistical applications to high-frequency data analysis in finance. As an illustrative example, a Poisson sampling scheme with random change point is discussed.     

Full-Discrete Finite Element Method for Stochastic Hyperbolic Equation

This paper is concerned with the finite element method for the stochastic wave equation and the stochastic elastic equation driven by space-time white noise. For simplicity, we rewrite the two types of stochastic hyperbolic equations into a unified form. We convert the stochastic hyperbolic equation into a regularized equation by discretizing the white noise and then consider the full-discrete finite element method for the regularized equation. We derive the modeling error by using "Green's method" and the finite element approximation error by using the error estimates of the deterministic equation. Some numerical examples are presented to verify the theoretical results.     

Quantitative approximation of certain stochastic integrals

We approximate certain stochastic integrals, typically appearing in Stochastic Finance, by stochastic integrals over integrands, which are path-wise constant within deterministic, but not necessarily equidistant, time intervals. We ask for rates of convergence if the approximation error is considered in L 2 . In particular, we show that by using non-equidistant time nets, in contrast to equidistant time nets, approximation rates can be improved considerably.     

Asymptotic normality of the continuous-time stochastic approximation algorithm

In this paper the continuous-time stochastic approximation algorithm seeking for the zero of a regression function is considered when the measurement error is a stochastic process generated by an Ito integral as the input of a linear system. The conditions are given to guarantee the asymptotic normality of the algorithm which is modified from the Robbins-Monro procedure proposed for the case where the measurement error is a process of independent increment.     

Incremental Without Replacement Sampling in Nonconvex Optimization

Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications - Minibatch decomposition methods for empirical risk minimization are commonly analyzed in a stochastic approximation setting, also known as sampling...     

Uniform exponential convergence of sample average random functions under general sampling with applications in stochastic programming

Sample average approximation (SAA) is one of the most popular methods for solving stochastic optimization and equilibrium problems. Research on SAA has been mostly focused on the case when sampling is independent and identically distributed (iid) with exceptions (Dai et al. (2000) [9], Homem-de-Mello (2008) [16]). In this paper we study SAA with general sampling (including iid sampling and non-iid sampling) for solving nonsmooth stochastic optimization problems, stochastic Nash equilibrium problems and stochastic generalized equations. To this end, we first derive the uniform exponential convergence of the sample average of a class of lower semicontinuous random functions and then apply it to a nonsmooth stochastic minimization problem. Exponential convergence of estimators of both optimal solutions and M-stationary points (characterized by Mordukhovich limiting subgradients (Mordukhovich (2006) [23], Rockafellar and Wets (1998) [32])) are established under mild conditions. We also use the unform convergence result to establish the exponential rate of convergence of statistical estimators of a stochastic Nash equilibrium problem and estimators of the solutions to a stochastic generalized equation problem.     

Coefficients of Runge‐Kutta Schemes for Itô Stochastic Differential Equations

In order to approximate the solution of an Itô stochastic differential equation, embedded explicit stochastic Runge‐Kutta methods may be applied. Coefficients for such schemes are presented in this paper. Since embedded methods provide different orders of convergence, they may be applied for estimating the local error of the approximation process.     

Discrete Approximations of Controlled Stochastic Systems with Memory: A Survey

This survey article considers discrete approximations of an optimal control problem in which the controlled state equation is described by a general class of stochastic functional differential equations with a bounded memory. Specifically, three different approximation methods, namely (i) semidiscretization scheme; (ii) Markov chain approximation; and (iii) finite difference approximation, are investigated. The convergence results as well as error estimates are established for each of the approximation methods.     

A variable step-size control algorithm for the weak approximation of stochastic differential equations

In this paper, we propose two local error estimates based on drift and diffusion terms of the stochastic differential equations in order to determine the optimal step-size for the next stage in an adaptive variable step-size algorithm. These local error estimates are based on the weak approximation solution of stochastic differential equations with one-dimensional and multi-dimensional Wiener processes. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach in the weak approximation of several standard test problems including SDEs with small noise and scalar and multi-dimensional Wiener processes.     

Embedded Stochastic Runge‐Kutta Methods

We present some new embedded explicit stochastic Runge‐Kutta methods for the approximation of Stratonovich stochastic differential equations in the weak sense with different orders of convergence. The presented methods yield an estimate of the local error which can be used for a step size control algorithm.     

Adaptive weak approximation of stochastic differential equations

Adaptive time‐stepping methods based on the Monte Carlo Euler method for weak approximation of Itô stochastic differential equations are developed. The main result is new expansions of the computational error, with computable leading‐order term in a posteriori form, based on stochastic flows and discrete dual backward problems. The expansions lead to efficient and accurate computation of error estimates. Adaptive algorithms for either stochastic time steps or deterministic time steps are described. Numerical examples illustrate when stochastic and deterministic adaptive time steps are superior to constant time steps and when adaptive stochastic steps are superior to adaptive deterministic steps. Stochastic time steps use Brownian bridges and require more work for a given number of time steps. Deterministic time steps may yield more time steps but require less work; for example, in the limit of vanishing error tolerance, the ratio of the computational error and its computable estimate tends to 1 with negligible additional work to determine the adaptive deterministic time steps. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Exponential stability of numerical solutions for a class of stochastic age-dependent capital system with Poisson jumps

Recently, numerical solutions of stochastic differential equations have received a great deal of attention. Numerical approximation schemes are invaluable tools for exploring their properties. In this paper, we introduce a class of stochastic age-dependent (vintage) capital system with Poisson jumps. We also give the discrete approximate solution with an implicit Euler scheme in time discretization. Using Gronwall’s lemma and Barkholder-Davis-Gundy’s inequality, some criteria are obtained for the exponential stability of numerical solutions to the stochastic age-dependent capital system with Poisson jumps. It is proved that the numerical approximation solutions converge to the analytic solutions of the equations under the given conditions, where information on the order of approximation is provided. These error bounds imply strong convergence as the timestep tends to zero. A numerical example is used to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Exact convergence rate of the Wong–Zakai approximation to RDEs driven by Gaussian rough paths

We consider a solution to a stochastic differential equation driven by a Gaussian process in the rough differential equation sense and the Wong–Zakai approximation to the solution. We give an upper bound of the error of the Wong–Zakai approximation. We also show that the upper bound is optimal in a particular case.