Infinite-dimensional Langevin equations: uniqueness and rate of convergence for finite-dimensional approximations

The paper deals with the infinite-dimensional stochastic equation dX= B(t, X) dt + dW driven by a Wiener process which may also cover stochastic partial differential equations. We study a certain finite dimensional approximation of B(t, X) and give a qualitative bound for its rate of convergence to be high enough to ensure the weak uniqueness for solutions of our equation. Examples are given demonstrating the force of the new condition. Received: 6 November 1999 / Revised version: 21 August 2000 / Published online: 6 April 2001     

On the Einstein relation for a mechanical system

We consider a mechanical model in the plane, consisting of a vertical rod, subject to a constant horizontal force f and to elastic collisions with the particles of a free gas which is “horizontally” in equilibrium at some inverse temperature β. In a previous paper we proved that, in the appropriate space and time scaling, the motion of the rod is described as a drift term plus a diffusion term. In this paper we prove that the drift d(f) and the diffusivity σ ² (f) are continuous functions of f, and moreover that the Einstein relation holds, i.e., lim _{f → 0}  d(f)f = β2 σ ² (0) . Received: 26 January 1996 / In revised form: 2 October 1996     

Pathwise uniqueness for reflecting Brownian motion in Euclidean domains

For a bounded C ^1,α domain in ℝ ^d we show that there exists a strong solution to the multidimensional Skorokhod equation and that weak uniqueness holds for this equation. These results imply that pathwise uniqueness and strong uniqueness hold for the Skorokhod equation. Received: 3 February 1999 / Revised version: 2 September 1999 /?Published online: 11 April 2000     

On weak mixing in lattice models

Summary. For lattice models on ℤ ^d , weak mixing is the property that the influence of the boundary condition on a finite decays exponentially with distance from that region. For a wide class of models on ℤ², including all finite range models, we show that weak mixing is a consequence of Gibbs uniqueness, exponential decay of an appropriate form of connectivity, and a natural coupling property. In particular, on ℤ², the Fortuin-Kasteleyn random cluster model is weak mixing whenever uniqueness holds and the connectivity decays exponentially, and the q-state Potts model above the critical temperature is weak mixing whenever correlations decay exponentially, a hypothesis satisfied if q is sufficiently large. Ratio weak mixing is the property that uniformly over events A and B occurring on subsets Λ and Γ, respectively, of the lattice, |P(A∩B)/P(A)P(B)−1| decreases exponentially in the distance between Λ and Γ. We show that under mild hypotheses, for example finite range, weak mixing implies ratio weak mixing. Received: 27 August 1996 / In revised form: 15 August 1997     

Martin–Kuramochi boundary and reflecting symmetric diffusion

In this paper, we will give sufficient conditions for the existence of the reflecting diffusion process on a locally compact space. In constructing reflecting diffusion process, we consider the corresponding Martin–Kuramochi boundary as the reflecting barrier and introduce the notion of strong (ℰ, u)-Caccioppoli set. Our method covers reflecting diffusion processes with diffusion coefficient degenerating on the boundary. Received: 23 June 1997 / Revised version: 28 September 1991/ Published online: 14 June 2000     

Index sets and parametric reductions

We investigate the index sets associated with the degree structures of computable sets under the parameterized reducibilities introduced by the authors. We solve a question of Peter Cholakand the first author by proving the fundamental index sets associated with a computable set A, {e : W _e ≤ _q ^u A} for q∈ {m, T} are Σ₄ ⁰ complete. We also show hat FPT(≤ _q ⁿ ), that is {e : W _e computable and ≡ _q ⁿ ?}, is Σ₄ ⁰ complete. We also look at computable presentability of these classes. Received: 13 July 1996 / Revised version: 14 April 2000 / Published online: 18 May 2001     

Euclidean models of first-passage percolation

Summary. We introduce a new family of first-passage percolation (FPP) models in the context of Poisson-Voronoi tesselations of ℝ ^d . Compared to standard FPP on ℤ ^d , these models have some technical complications but also have the advantage of statistical isotropy. We prove two almost sure results: a shape theorem (where isotropy implies an exact Euclidean ball for the asymptotic shape) and nonexistence of certain doubly infinite geodesics (where isotropy yields a stronger result than in standard FPP). Received: 21 May 1996 / In revised form: 19 November 1996     

On linear, degenerate backward stochastic partial differential equations

In this paper we study the well-posedness and regularity of the adapted solutions to a class of linear, degenerate backward stochastic partial differential equations (BSPDE, for short). We establish new a priori estimates for the adapted solutions to BSPDEs in a general setting, based on which the existence, uniqueness, and regularity of adapted solutions are obtained. Also, we prove some comparison theorems and discuss their possible applications in mathematical finance. Received: 24 September 1997 / Revised version: 3 June 1998     

Exponential decay rate of survival probability in a disastrous random environment

Summary. We study the exponential decay rate of the survival probability up to time t>0 of a random walker moving in Zopf; ^d in a temporally and spatially fluctuating random environment. When the random walker has a speed parameter κ>0, we investigate the influence of κ on the exponential decay rate λ(d,κ). In particular we prove that for any fixed d≥1, λ(d,κ) behaves like as logκ as κ↘0. Received: 21 May 1996 / In revised form: 2 February 1997     

Diffusions on path and loop spaces: existence, finite dimensional approximation and Hölder continuity

Summary. We construct Ornstein–Uhlenbeck processes and more general diffusion processes on path and loop spaces of Riemannian manifolds by finite dimensional approximation. We also show H?lder continuity of the sample paths w.r.t. the supremum norm. The proofs are based on the Lyons–Zheng decomposition. Received: 6 September 1996 / In revised form: 1 April 1997     

Uniqueness of Dirichlet forms associated with systems of infinitely many Brownian balls in ℝ d

Summary. Dirichlet forms associated with systems of infinitely many Brownian balls in ℝ ^d are studied. Introducing a linear operator L ₀ defined on a space of smooth local functions, we show the uniqueness of Dirichlet forms associated with self adjoint Markovian extensions of L ₀. We also discuss the ergodicity of the reversible process associated with the Dirichlet form. Received: 18 July 1996/In revised form: 13 February 1997     

Wiener’s test for super-Brownian motion and the Brownian snake

We prove a Wiener-type criterion for super-Brownian motion and the Brownian snake.If F is a Borel subset of ℝ ^d and x ∈ ℝ ^d , we provide a necessary and sufficientcondition for super-Brownian motion started at δ _x to immediately hit the set F. Equivalently, this condition is necessary and sufficient for the hitting time of F by theBrownian snake with initial point x to be 0. A key ingredient of the proof isan estimate showing that the hitting probability of F is comparable, up to multiplicative constants,to the relevant capacity of F. This estimate, which is of independent interest, refines previous results due to Perkins and Dynkin. An important role is played by additivefunctionals of the Brownian snake, which are investigated here via the potentialtheory of symmetric Markov processes. As a direct application of our probabilisticresults, we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence in a domain D of a positivesolution of the equation Δ; u = u ² which explodes at a given point of ∂ D. Received: 5 January 1996 / In revised form: 30 October 1996     

Weighted Polynomials on Discrete Sets

 For a real interval I of positive length, we prove a necessary and sufficient condition which ensures that the continuous L _p (0 < p ⩽ ∞) norm of a weighted polynomial, P _n w ⁿ , deg P _n  ⩽ n, n ⩾ 1 is in an nth root sense, controlled by its corresponding discrete H?lder norm on a very general class of discrete subsets of I. As a by product of our main result, we establish inequalities and theorems dealing with zero distribution, zero location and sup and L _p infinite–finite range inequalities. Received April 4, 2001; in final form June 21, 2002     

Exact asymptotic minimax constants for the estimation of analytical functions in L p

The L _p minimax risks (1≤p<∞) are studied for statistical estimation in the Gaussian white noise model. The asymptotic rate and constants are given, and the optimal estimator is proposed. This, together with the work of Golubev, Levit and Tsybakov (1996) establishes the classification of the L _p minimax constants on the classes of analytical functions. Received: 10 December 1996 / Revised version: 14 December 1997     

Asymptotic behaviour of disconnection and non-intersection exponents

Summary. We study the asymptotic behaviour of disconnection and non-intersection exponents for planar Brownian motionwhen the number of considered paths tends to infinity. In particular, if η _n (respectively ξ (n, p)) denotes the disconnection exponent for n paths (respectively the non-intersection exponent for n paths versus p paths), then we show that lim _{n →∞} η _n /n = 1 2 and that for a > 0 and b > 0,lim _{n →∞} ξ ([na],[nb])/n = (√ a + √ b) ² /2. Received: 28 February 1996 / In revised form: 3 September 1996     

On Itô s formula for multidimensional Brownian motion

Consider a d-dimensional Brownian motion X = (X ¹,…,X ^d ) and a function F which belongs locally to the Sobolev space W ^1,2. We prove an extension of It? s formula where the usual second order terms are replaced by the quadratic covariations [f _k (X), X ^k ] involving the weak first partial derivatives f _k of F. In particular we show that for any locally square-integrable function f the quadratic covariations [f(X), X ^k ] exist as limits in probability for any starting point, except for some polar set. The proof is based on new approximation results for forward and backward stochastic integrals. Received: 16 March 1998 / Revised version: 4 April 1999     

Aging of spherical spin glasses

Sompolinski and Zippelius (1981) propose the study of dynamical systems whose invariant measures are the Gibbs measures for (hard to analyze) statistical physics models of interest. In the course of doing so, physicists often report of an “aging” phenomenon. For example, aging is expected to happen for the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model, a disordered mean-field model with a very complex phase transition in equilibrium at low temperature. We shall study the Langevin dynamics for a simplified spherical version of this model. The induced rotational symmetry of the spherical model reduces the dynamics in question to an N-dimensional coupled system of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes whose random drift parameters are the eigenvalues of certain random matrices. We obtain the limiting dynamics for N approaching infinity and by analyzing its long time behavior, explain what is aging (mathematically speaking), what causes this phenomenon, and what is its relationship with the phase transition of the corresponding equilibrium invariant measures. Received: 8 July 1999 / Revised version: 2 June 2000 / Published online: 6 April 2001     

Degree theory on Wiener space

Summary. Let (W, H, μ) be an abstract Wiener space and let Tw  =  w + u (w), where u is an H-valued random variable, be a measurable transformation on W. A Sard type lemma and a degree theorem for this setup are presented and applied to derive existence of solutions to elliptic stochastic partial differential equations. Received: 19 March 1996 / In revised form: 7 January 1997     

Random walk on upper triangular matrices mixes rapidly

We present an upper bound O(n ² ) for the mixing time of a simple random walk on upper triangular matrices. We show that this bound is sharp up to a constant, and find tight bounds on the eigenvalue gap. We conclude by applying our results to indicate that the asymmetric exclusion process on a circle indeed mixes more rapidly than the corresponding symmetric process. Received: 25 January 1999 / Revised version: 17 September 1999 / Published online: 14 June 2000     

The importance of strictly local martingales; applications to radial Ornstein–Uhlenbeck processes

For a wide class of local martingales (M _t ) there is a default function, which is not identically zero only when (M _t ) is strictly local, i.e. not a true martingale. This default in the martingale property allows us to characterize the integrability of functions of sup _s≤t M _s in terms of the integrability of the function itself. We describe some (paradoxical) mean-decreasing local sub-martingales, and the default functions for Bessel processes and radial Ornstein–Uhlenbeck processes in relation to their first hitting and last exit times. Received: 6 August 1996 / Revised version: 27 July 1998