On the rate of convergence of simple and jump-adapted weak Euler schemes for Lévy driven SDEs

The paper studies the rate of convergence of a weak Euler approximation for solutions to possibly completely degenerate SDEs driven by Lévy processes, with Hölder-continuous coefficients. It investigates the dependence of the rate on the regularity of coefficients and driving processes and its robustness to the approximation of the increments of the driving process. A convergence rate is derived for some approximate jump-adapted Euler scheme as well.     

Exponential ergodicity and regularity for equations with Lévy noise

We prove exponential convergence to the invariant measure, in the total variation norm, for solutions of SDEs driven by α-stable noises in finite and in infinite dimensions. Two approaches are used. The first one is based on Liapunov’s function approach by Harris, and the second on Doeblin’s coupling argument in [8]. Irreducibility and uniform strong Feller property play an essential role in both approaches. We concentrate on two classes of Markov processes: solutions of finite dimensional equations, introduced in [27], with Hölder continuous drift and a general, non-degenerate, symmetric α-stable noise, and infinite dimensional parabolic systems, introduced in [29], with Lipschitz drift and cylindrical α-stable noise. We show that if the nonlinearity is bounded, then the processes are exponential mixing. This improves, in particular, an earlier result established in [28], with a different method.     

Regularity of semigroups generated by Lévy type operators via coupling

By adopting the coupling method, we obtain new verifiable sufficient conditions about the _Cb(R^d)$C_b\left({\mathbb{R}}^d\right)$-Feller continuity, the Lipschitz continuity and the strong Feller continuity of the semigroups associated with Lévy type operators. These results easily apply to jump–diffusion processes and stochastic differential equations driven by Lévy processes. Our results also yield the criterion for the e$e$-property (namely the characterization about the equi-continuity of semigroups acting on bounded Lipschitz functions) of Lévy type operators, and show that both genuine Lévy processes and the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck type processes are e$e$-processes.     

Local time–space stochastic calculus for Lévy processes

We develop a stochastic calculus on the plane with respect to the local times of a large class of Lévy processes. We can then extend to these Lévy processes an Itô formula that was established previously for Brownian motion. Our method provides also a multidimensional version of the formula. We show that this formula generates many “Itô formulas” that fit various problems. In the special case of a linear Brownian motion, we recover a recently established Itô formula that involves local times on curves. This formula is already used in financial mathematics.     

Criteria for ergodicity of Lévy type operators in dimension one

Some sufficient conditions for the recurrence, the positive recurrence and the exponential ergodicity of one-dimensional Lévy type operators are presented. The conditions are classified according to different conditions on the ranges and integrability of the Lévy measure, based on the drift inequalities for the extended generator, and on a comparison with diffusion operators. A number of examples are illustrated, including the fractional Laplacian operator and the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck type operator.     

Constructions of coupling processes for Lévy processes

We construct optimal Markov couplings of Lévy processes, whose Lévy (jump) measure has an absolutely continuous component. The construction is based on properties of subordinate Brownian motions and the coupling of Brownian motions by reflection.     

Lifting Lévy processes to hyperfinite random walks

An internal lifting for an arbitrary measurable Lévy process is constructed. This lifting reflects our intuitive notion of a process which is the infinitesimal sum of its infinitesimal increments, those in turn being independent from and closely related to each other - for short, the process can be regarded as some kind of random walk (where the step size generically will vary). The proof uses the existence of càdlàg modifications of Lévy processes and certain features of hyperfinite adapted probability spaces, commonly known as the “model theory of stochastic processes”.     

On the small-time behaviour of Lévy-type processes

We show some Chung-type lim inf$lim\; inf$ law of the iterated logarithm results at zero for a class of (pure-jump) Feller or Lévy-type processes. This class includes all Lévy processes. The norming function is given in terms of the symbol of the infinitesimal generator of the process. In the Lévy case, the symbol coincides with the characteristic exponent.     

Harnack inequalities for Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes driven by Lévy processes

By using the existing sharp estimates of the density function for rotationally invariant symmetric α-stable Lévy processes and rotationally invariant symmetric truncated α-stable Lévy processes, we obtain that the Harnack inequalities hold for rotationally invariant symmetric α-stable Lévy processes with α∈(0,2) and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes driven by rotationally invariant symmetric α-stable Lévy process, while the logarithmic Harnack inequalities are satisfied for rotationally invariant symmetric truncated α-stable Lévy processes.     

The heat equation with time-independent multiplicative stable Lévy noise

We study the heat equation with a random potential term. The potential is a one-sided stable noise, with positive jumps, which does not depend on time. To avoid singularities, we define the equation in terms of a construction similar to the Skorokhod integral or Wick product. We give a criterion for existence based on the dimension of the space variable, and the parameter p$p$ of the stable noise. Our arguments are different for p<1$p<1$ and p?1$p?1$.     

Randomly weighted self-normalized Lévy processes

Let (_Ut,_Vt)$(U_t,V_t)$ be a bivariate Lévy process, where _Vt$V_t$ is a subordinator and _Ut$U_t$ is a Lévy process formed by randomly weighting each jump of _Vt$V_t$ by an independent random variable _Xt$X_t$ having cdf F$F$. We investigate the asymptotic distribution of the self-normalized Lévy process _Ut/_Vt$U_t/V_t$ at 0 and at ∞$\infty$. We show that all subsequential limits of this ratio at 0 (∞$\infty$) are continuous for any nondegenerate F$F$ with finite expectation if and only if _Vt$V_t$ belongs to the centered Feller class at 0 (∞$\infty$). We also characterize when _Ut/_Vt$U_t/V_t$ has a non-degenerate limit distribution at 0 and ∞$\infty$.     

BSDEs driven by time-changed Lévy noises and optimal control

We study backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) for time-changed Lévy noises when the time-change is independent of the Lévy process. We prove existence and uniqueness of the solution and we obtain an explicit formula for linear BSDEs and a comparison principle. BSDEs naturally appear in control problems. Here we prove a sufficient maximum principle for a general optimal control problem of a system driven by a time-changed Lévy noise. As an illustration we solve the mean–variance portfolio selection problem.     

Generalized reflected BSDEs driven by a Lévy process and an obstacle problem for PDIEs with a nonlinear Neumann boundary condition

In this paper, we derive the existence and uniqueness of the solution for a class of generalized reflected backward stochastic differential equations (GRBSDEs in short) driven by a Lévy process, which involve the integral with respect to a continuous process by means of the Snell envelope, the penalization method and the fixed point theorem. In addition, we obtain the comparison theorem for the solutions of the GRBSDEs. As an application, we give a probabilistic formula for the viscosity solution of an obstacle problem for a class of partial differential-integral equations (PDIEs in short) with a nonlinear Neumann boundary condition.     

Constructing hierarchical Archimedean copulas with Lévy subordinators

A probabilistic interpretation for hierarchical Archimedean copulas based on Lévy subordinators is given. Independent exponential random variables are divided by group-specific Lévy subordinators which are evaluated at a common random time. The resulting random vector has a hierarchical Archimedean survival copula. This approach suggests an efficient sampling algorithm and allows one to easily construct several new parametric families of hierarchical Archimedean copulas.     

The forest associated with the record process on a Lévy tree

We perform a pruning procedure on a Lévy tree and instead of throwing away the removed sub-tree, we regraft it on a given branch (not related to the Lévy tree). We prove that the tree constructed by regrafting is distributed as the original Lévy tree, generalizing a result of Addario-Berry, Broutin and Holmgren where only Aldous’s tree is considered. As a consequence, we obtain that the “average pruning time” of a leaf is distributed as the height of a leaf picked at random in the Lévy tree.     

On the convergence to the multiple Wiener-Itô integral

We study the convergence to the multiple Wiener-Itô integral from processes with absolutely continuous paths. More precisely, consider a family of processes, with paths in the Cameron-Martin space, that converges weakly to a standard Brownian motion in C₀([0,T]). Using these processes, we construct a family that converges weakly, in the sense of the finite dimensional distributions, to the multiple Wiener-Itô integral process of a function f∈L²(n[0,T]). We prove also the weak convergence in the space C₀([0,T]) to the second-order integral for two important families of processes that converge to a standard Brownian motion.