Markovian quadratic and superquadratic BSDEs with an unbounded terminal condition

This article deals with the existence and the uniqueness of solutions to quadratic and superquadratic Markovian backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) with an unbounded terminal condition. Our results are deeply linked with a strong a priori estimate on Z$Z$ that takes advantage of the Markovian framework. This estimate allows us to prove the existence of a viscosity solution to a semilinear parabolic partial differential equation with nonlinearity having quadratic or superquadratic growth in the gradient of the solution. This estimate also allows us to give explicit convergence rates for time approximation of quadratic or superquadratic Markovian BSDEs.     

A simple constructive approach to quadratic BSDEs with or without delay

This paper provides a simple approach for the consideration of quadratic BSDEs with bounded terminal conditions. Using solely probabilistic arguments, we retrieve the existence and uniqueness result derived via PDE-based methods by Kobylanski (2000) [14]. This approach is related to the study of quadratic BSDEs presented by Tevzadze (2008) [19]. Our argumentation, as in Tevzadze (2008) [19], highly relies on the theory of BMO martingales which was used for the first time for BSDEs by Hu et al. (2005) [12]. However, we avoid in our method any fixed point argument and use Malliavin calculus to overcome the difficulty. Our new scheme of proof allows also to extend the class of quadratic BSDEs, for which there exists a unique solution: we incorporate delayed quadratic BSDEs, whose driver depends on the recent past of the Y$Y$ component of the solution. When the delay vanishes, we verify that the solution of a delayed quadratic BSDE converges to the solution of the corresponding classical non-delayed quadratic BSDE.     

Second order backward stochastic differential equations under a monotonicity condition

In a recent paper, Soner, Touzi and Zhang (2012) [19] have introduced a notion of second order backward stochastic differential equations (2BSDEs), which are naturally linked to a class of fully non-linear PDEs. They proved existence and uniqueness for a generator which is uniformly Lipschitz in the variables y$y$ and z$z$. The aim of this paper is to extend these results to the case of a generator satisfying a monotonicity condition in y$y$. More precisely, we prove existence and uniqueness for 2BSDEs with a generator which is Lipschitz in z$z$ and uniformly continuous with linear growth in y$y$. Moreover, we emphasize throughout the paper the major difficulties and differences due to the 2BSDE framework.     

Second order backward stochastic differential equations with quadratic growth

We extend the well posedness results for second order backward stochastic differential equations introduced by Soner, Touzi and Zhang (2012)  [31] to the case of a bounded terminal condition and a generator with quadratic growth in the z$z$ variable. More precisely, we obtain uniqueness through a representation of the solution inspired by stochastic control theory, and we obtain two existence results using two different methods. In particular, we obtain the existence of the simplest purely quadratic 2BSDEs through the classical exponential change, which allows us to introduce a quasi-sure version of the entropic risk measure. As an application, we also study robust risk-sensitive control problems. Finally, we prove a Feynman–Kac formula and a probabilistic representation for fully non-linear PDEs in this setting.     

Representation Theorem for Generators of Quadratic BSDEs

In this paper, we establish a general representation theorem for generator of backward stochastic differential equation (BSDE), whose generator has a quadratic growth in z. As some applications, we obtain a general converse comparison theorem of such quadratic BSDEs and uniqueness theorem, translation invariance for quadratic g-expectation.     

A converse comparison theorem for anticipated BSDEs and related non-linear expectations

The converse comparison theorem has received much attention in the theory of backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs). However, no such theorem has been proved for anticipated BSDEs. In this paper, we derive a converse comparison theorem by first giving an existence and uniqueness theorem for adapted solutions of anticipated BSDEs with a stopping time and then related to (f,δ)$(f,\delta )$-expectations induced by anticipated BSDEs.     

Backward stochastic differential equations associated to jump Markov processes and applications

In this paper we study backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) driven by the compensated random measure associated to a given pure jump Markov process X$X$ on a general state space K$K$. We apply these results to prove well-posedness of a class of nonlinear parabolic differential equations on K$K$, that generalize the Kolmogorov equation of X$X$. Finally we formulate and solve optimal control problems for Markov jump processes, relating the value function and the optimal control law to an appropriate BSDE that also allows to construct probabilistically the unique solution to the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation and to identify it with the value function.     

Backward SDEs with superquadratic growth

In this paper, we discuss the solvability of backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) with superquadratic generators. We first prove that given a superquadratic generator, there exists a bounded terminal value, such that the associated BSDE does not admit any bounded solution. On the other hand, we prove that if the superquadratic BSDE admits a bounded solution, then there exist infinitely many bounded solutions for this BSDE. Finally, we prove the existence of a solution for Markovian BSDEs where the terminal value is a bounded continuous function of a forward stochastic differential equation.     

Quadratic reflected BSDEs with unbounded obstacles

In this paper, we analyze a real-valued reflected backward stochastic differential equation (RBSDE) with an unbounded obstacle and an unbounded terminal condition when its generator f$f$ has quadratic growth in the z$z$-variable. In particular, we obtain existence, uniqueness, and stability results, and consider the optimal stopping for quadratic g$g$-evaluations. As an application of our results we analyze the obstacle problem for semi-linear parabolic PDEs in which the non-linearity appears as the square of the gradient. Finally, we prove a comparison theorem for these obstacle problems when the generator is concave in the z$z$-variable.     

Some results on general quadratic reflected BSDEs driven by a continuous martingale

We study the well-posedness of general reflected BSDEs driven by a continuous martingale, when the coefficient f$f$ of the driver has at most quadratic growth in the control variable Z$Z$, with a bounded terminal condition and a lower obstacle which is bounded above. We obtain the basic results in this setting: comparison and uniqueness, existence, stability. For the comparison theorem and the special comparison theorem for reflected BSDEs (which allows one to compare the increasing processes of two solutions), we give intrinsic proofs which do not rely on the comparison theorem for standard BSDEs. This allows to obtain the special comparison theorem under minimal assumptions. We obtain existence by using the fixed point theorem and then a series of perturbations, first in the case where f$f$ is Lipschitz in the primary variable Y$Y$, and then in the case where f$f$ can have slightly-superlinear growth and the case where f$f$ is monotonous in Y$Y$ with arbitrary growth. We also obtain a local Lipschitz estimate in BMO$BMO$ for the martingale part of the solution.     

Quadratic backward stochastic differential equations driven by G-Brownian motion: Discrete solutions and approximation

In this paper, we consider backward stochastic differential equations driven by $G$-Brownian motion (GBSDEs) under quadratic assumptions on coefficients. We prove the existence and uniqueness of solution for such equations. On the one hand, a priori estimates are obtained by applying the Girsanov type theorem in the $G$-framework, from which we deduce the uniqueness. On the other hand, to prove the existence of solutions, we first construct solutions for discrete GBSDEs by solving corresponding fully nonlinear PDEs, and then approximate solutions for general quadratic GBSDEs in Banach spaces.     

Multidimensional BSDEs with weak monotonicity and general growth generators

This paper aims at solving a multidimensional backward stochastic differential equation （BSDE） whose generator g satisfies a weak monotonicity condition and a general growth condition in y. We first establish an existence and uniqueness result of solutions for this kind of BSDEs by using systematically the technique of the priori estimation, the convolution approach, the iteration, the truncation and the Bihari inequality. Then, we overview some assumptions related closely to the monotonieity condition in the literature and compare them in an effective way, which yields that our existence and uniqueness result really and truly unifies the Mao condition in y and the monotonieity condition with the general growth condition in y, and it generalizes some known results. Finally, we prove a stability theorem and a comparison theorem for this kind of BSDEs, which also improves some known results.     

Backward SDEs driven by Gaussian processes

In this paper we discuss existence and uniqueness results for BSDEs driven by centered Gaussian processes. Compared to the existing literature on Gaussian BSDEs, which mainly treats fractional Brownian motion with Hurst parameter H>1/2$H>1/2$, our main contributions are: (i) Our results cover a wide class of Gaussian processes as driving processes including fractional Brownian motion with arbitrary Hurst parameter H∈(0,1)$H\in (0,1)$; (ii) the assumptions on the generator f$f$ are mild and include e.g. the case when f$f$ has (super-)quadratic growth in z$z$; (iii) the proofs are based on transferring the problem to an auxiliary BSDE driven by a Brownian motion.     

Multi-player stopping games with redistribution of payoffs and BSDEs with oblique reflection

We examine the connections between a novel class of multi-person stopping games with redistribution of payoffs and multi-dimensional reflected BSDEs in discrete- and continuous-time frameworks. Our goal is to provide an essential extension of classic results for two-player stopping games (Dynkin games) to the multi-player framework. We show the link between certain multi-period m$m$-player stopping games and a new kind of m$m$-dimensional reflected BSDEs. The existence and uniqueness of a solution to continuous-time reflected BSDEs are established. Continuous-time redistribution games are constructed with the help of reflected BSDEs and a characterization of the value of such stopping games is provided.     

A numerical scheme to solve nonlinear bsdes with lipschitz and non-lipschitz coefficients

In this paper, we attempt to present a new numerical approach to solve non-linear backward stochastic differential equations. First, we present some definitions and theorems to obtain the conditions, from which we can approximate the non-linear term of the backward stochastic differential equation (BSDE) and we get a continuous piecewise linear BSDE correspond with the original BSDE. We use the relationship between backward stochastic differential equations and stochastic controls by interpreting BSDEs as some stochastic optimal control problems, to solve the approximated BSDE and we prove that the approximated solution converges to the exact solution of the original non-linear BSDE in two different cases.     

The reversibility and an SPDE for the generalized Fleming–Viot processes with mutation

The (Ξ,A)$(\Xi ,A)$-Fleming–Viot process with mutation is a probability-measure-valued process whose moment dual is similar to that of the classical Fleming–Viot process except that Kingman’s coalescent is replaced by the Ξ$\Xi$-coalescent, the coalescent with simultaneous multiple collisions. We first prove the existence of such a process for general mutation generator A$A$. We then investigate its reversibility. We also study both the weak and strong uniqueness of the solution to the associated stochastic partial differential equation.     

The adapted solution and comparison theorem for backward stochastic differential equations with Poisson jumps and applications

This paper deals with a class of backward stochastic differential equations with Poisson jumps and with random terminal times. We prove the existence and uniqueness result of adapted solution for such a BSDE under the assumption of non-Lipschitzian coefficient. We also derive two comparison theorems by applying a general Girsanov theorem and the linearized technique on the coefficient. By these we first show the existence and uniqueness of minimal solution for one-dimensional BSDE with jumps when its coefficient is continuous and has a linear growth. Then we give a general Feynman-Kac formula for a class of parabolic types of second-order partial differential and integral equations (PDIEs) by using the solution of corresponding BSDE with jumps. Finally, we exploit above Feynman-Kac formula and related comparison theorem to provide a probabilistic formula for the viscosity solution of a quasi-linear PDIE of parabolic type.     

Multi-dimensional BSDE with oblique reflection and optimal switching

In this paper, we study a multi-dimensional backward stochastic differential equation (BSDE) with oblique reflection, which is a BSDE reflected on the boundary of a special unbounded convex domain along an oblique direction, and which arises naturally in the study of optimal switching problem. The existence of the adapted solution is obtained by the penalization method, the monotone convergence, and the a priori estimates. The uniqueness is obtained by a verification method (the first component of any adapted solution is shown to be the vector value of a switching problem for BSDEs). As applications, we apply the above results to solve the optimal switching problem for stochastic differential equations of functional type, and we give also a probabilistic interpretation of the viscosity solution to a system of variational inequalities.     

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL REFLECTED BACKWARD STOCHASTIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS AND THE COMPARISON THEOREM

In this article, we study the multi-dimensional reflected backward stochastic differential equations. The existence and uniqueness result of the solution for this kind of equation is proved by the fixed point argument where every element of the solution is forced to stay above the given stochastic process, i.e., multi-dimensional obstacle, respectively. We also give a kind of multi-dimensional comparison theorem for the reflected BSDE and then use it as the tool to prove an existence result for the multi-dimensional reflected BSDE where the coefficient is continuous and has linear growth.     

Multi-dimensional reflected backward stochastic differential equations and the comparison theorem

In this article, we study the multi-dimensional reflected backward stochastic differential equations. The existence and uniqueness result of the solution for this kind of equation is proved by the fixed point argument where every element of the solution is forced to stay above the given stochastic process, i.e., multi-dimensional obstacle, respectively. We also give a kind of multi-dimensional comparison theorem for the reflected BSDE and then use it as the tool to prove an existence result for the multi-dimensional reflected BSDE where the coefficient is continuous and has linear growth.