Extrapolation discontinuous Galerkin method for ultraparabolic equations

Ultraparabolic equations arise from the characterization of the performance index of stochastic optimal control relative to ultradiffusion processes; they evidence multiple temporal variables and may be regarded as parabolic along characteristic directions. We consider theoretical and approximation aspects of a temporally order and step size adaptive extrapolation discontinuous Galerkin method coupled with a spatial Lagrange second-order finite element approximation for a prototype ultraparabolic problem. As an application, we value a so-called Asian option from mathematical finance.     

Bounds for Asian basket options

In this paper we propose pricing bounds for European-style discrete arithmetic Asian basket options in a Black and Scholes framework. We start from methods used for basket options and Asian options. First, we use the general approach for deriving upper and lower bounds for stop-loss premia of sums of non-independent random variables as in Kaas et al. [Upper and lower bounds for sums of random variables, Insurance Math. Econom. 27 (2000) 151–168] or Dhaene et al. [The concept of comonotonicity in actuarial science and finance: theory, Insurance Math. Econom. 31(1) (2002) 3–33]. We generalize the methods in Deelstra et al. [Pricing of arithmetic basket options by conditioning, Insurance Math. Econom. 34 (2004) 55–57] and Vanmaele et al. [Bounds for the price of discrete sampled arithmetic Asian options, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 185(1) (2006) 51–90]. Afterwards we show how to derive an analytical closed-form expression for a lower bound in the non-comonotonic case. Finally, we derive upper bounds for Asian basket options by applying techniques as in Thompson [Fast narrow bounds on the value of Asian options, Working Paper, University of Cambridge, 1999] and Lord [Partially exact and bounded approximations for arithmetic Asian options, J. Comput. Finance 10 (2) (2006) 1–52]. Numerical results are included and on the basis of our numerical tests, we explain which method we recommend depending on moneyness and time-to-maturity.     

Space–time discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for shallow water flows

A space–time discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element method is presented for the shallow water equations over varying bottom topography. The method results in nonlinear equations per element, which are solved locally by establishing the element communication with a numerical HLLC flux. To deal with spurious oscillations around discontinuities, we employ a dissipation operator only around discontinuities using Krivodonova's discontinuity detector. The numerical scheme is verified by comparing numerical and exact solutions, and validated against a laboratory experiment involving flow through a contraction. We conclude that the method is second order accurate in both space and time for linear polynomials.     

An adaptive numerical method to handle blow-up in a parabolic system

We study numerical approximations to solutions of a system of two nonlinear diffusion equations in a bounded interval, coupled at the boundary in a nonlinear way. In certain cases the system develops a blow-up singularity in finite time. Fixed mesh methods are not well suited to approximate the problem near the singularity. As an alternative to reproduce the behaviour of the continuous solution, we present an adaptive in space procedure. The scheme recovers the conditions for blow-up and non-simultaneous blow-up. It also gives the correct non-simultaneous blow-up rate and set. Moreover, the numerical simultaneous blow-up rates coincide with the continuous ones in the cases when the latter are known. Finally, we present numerical experiments that illustrate the behaviour of the adaptive method.     

Asset liquidity and the valuation of derivative securities

We consider the valuation of European-style derivative securities under limited asset liquidity through the dynamic management of a portfolio of assets effected through continuous transaction. The valuation arises from the optimal realization of a performance index relative to the set of all feasible portfolio trajectories. An approximation procedure based upon the method-of-lines finite element method is developed and analyzed; numerical examples are presented in order to demonstrate the viability of the approach.     

Circulant preconditioners for pricing options

We use the normalized preconditioned conjugate gradient method with Strang’s circulant preconditioner to solve a nonsymmetric Toeplitz system A_nx=b, which arises from the discretization of a partial integro-differential equation in option pricing. By using the definition of family of generating functions introduced in [16], we prove that Strang’s circulant preconditioner leads to a superlinear convergence rate under certain conditions. Numerical results exemplify our theoretical analysis.     

Superconvergence of discontinuous Galerkin methods for hyperbolic systems

In this paper, the discontinuous Galerkin method for the positive and symmetric, linear hyperbolic systems is constructed and analyzed by using bilinear finite elements on a rectangular domain, and an O(h²)$O\left(h^2\right)$-order superconvergence error estimate is established under the conditions of almost uniform partition and the H³$H^3$-regularity for the exact solutions. The convergence analysis is based on some superclose estimates derived in this paper. Finally, as an application, the numerical treatment of Maxwell equation is discussed and computational results are presented.     

Tridiagonal implicit method to evaluate European and American options under infinite activity Lévy models

We propose an efficient implicit method to evaluate European and American options when the underlying asset follows an infinite activity Lévy model. Since the Lévy measure of the infinite activity model has the singularity at the origin, we approximate infinitely many small jumps by samples of a diffusion. The proposed methods to solve partial integro–differential equations for European options and linear complementarity problems for American options via an operator splitting method involve solving linear systems with tridiagonal matrices and so can significantly reduce the computations associated with the discrete integral operators. The numerical experiments verify that the proposed method has the second-order convergence rate under an infinite activity Lévy model.     

Non-separable splines and numerical computation of evolution equations by the Galerkin methods

We construct new non-separable splines and we apply the spline sampling approximation to the computation of numerical solutions of evolution equations. The non-separable splines are basis functions which give a fine sampling approximation which enables us to compute numerical solutions by means of the method of lines combined with the Galerkin method. To demonstrate our approach we compute numerical solutions of the Burgers equation and the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation.     

Vibration analysis of Kirchhoff plates by the Morley element method

Vibration analysis of Kirchhoff plates is of great importance in many engineering fields. The semi-discrete and the fully discrete Morley element methods are proposed to solve such a problem, which are effective even when the region of interest is irregular. The rigorous error estimates in the energy norm for both methods are established. Some reasonable approaches to choosing the initial functions are given to keep the good convergence rate of the fully discrete method. A number of numerical results are provided to illustrate the computational performance of the method in this paper.     

Moment matching approximation of Asian basket option prices

In this paper we propose some moment matching pricing methods for European-style discrete arithmetic Asian basket options in a Black & Scholes framework. We generalize the approach of [M. Curran, Valuing Asian and portfolio by conditioning on the geometric mean price, Management Science 40 (1994) 1705-1711] and of [G. Deelstra, J. Liinev, M. Vanmaele, Pricing of arithmetic basket options by conditioning, Insurance: Mathematics & Economics 34 (2004) 55-57] in several ways. We create a framework that allows for a whole class of conditioning random variables which are normally distributed. We moment match not only with a lognormal random variable but also with a log-extended-skew-normal random variable. We also improve the bounds of [G. Deelstra, I. Diallo, M. Vanmaele, Bounds for Asian basket options, Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics 218 (2008) 215-228]. Numerical results are included and on the basis of our numerical tests, we explain which method we recommend depending on moneyness and time-to-maturity.     

An integral representation approach for valuing American-style installment options with continuous payment plan

In this paper, we present an integral equation approach for the valuation of American-style installment derivatives when the payment plan is assumed to be a continuous function of the asset price and time. The contribution of this study is threefold. First, we show that in the Black-Scholes model the option pricing problem can be formulated as a free boundary problem under very general conditions on payoff structure and payment schedule. Second, by applying a Fourier transform-based solution technique, we derive a system of coupled recursive integral equations for the pair of free boundaries along with an analytic representation of the option price. Third, based on these results, we propose a unified framework which generalizes the existing methods and is capable of dealing with a wide range of monotonic payoff functions and continuous payment plans. Finally, by using the illustrative example of American vanilla installment call options, an explicit pricing formula is obtained for time-varying payment schedules.     

Variational inequalities and the pricing of American options

This paper is devoted to the derivation of some regularity properties of pricing functions for American options and to the discussion of numerical methods, based on the Bensoussan-Lions methods of variational inequalities. In particular, we provide a complete justification of the so-called Brennan-Schwartz algorithm for the valuation of American put options.Research supported in part by a contract from Banque INDOSUEZ.     

On the rate of convergence of the binomial tree scheme for American options

An American put option can be modelled as a variational inequality. With a penalization approximation to this variational inequality, the convergence rate of the Binomial Tree Scheme is obtained in this paper.     

A wavelet collocation method for evolution equations with energy conservation property

We describe a wavelet collocation method of computing numerical solutions to evolution equations that inherit energy conservation law. This method is based on the wavelet sampling approximation with Coifman scaling systems combined with the generalized energy integrals. In this paper, we shall focus on the theoretical background of our approach.     

Valuing Asian options using the finite element method and duality techniques

The main objective of this paper is to develop an adaptive finite element method for computation of the values, and different sensitivity measures, of the Asian option with both fixed and floating strike. The pricing is based on Black–Scholes PDE-model and a method developed by Ve?e? where the resulting PDEs are of parabolic type in one spatial dimension and can be applied to both continuous and discrete Asian options. We propose using an adaptive finite element method which is based on a posteriori estimates of the error in desired quantities, which we derive using duality techniques. The a posteriori error estimates are tested and verified, and are used to calculate optimal meshes for each type of option. The use of adapted meshes gives superior accuracy and performance with less degrees of freedom than using uniform meshes. The suggested adaptive finite element method is stable, gives fast and accurate results, and can be applied to other types of options as well.     

An irregular grid approach for pricing high-dimensional American options

We propose and test a new method for pricing American options in a high-dimensional setting. The method is centered around the approximation of the associated complementarity problem on an irregular grid. We approximate the partial differential operator on this grid by appealing to the SDE representation of the underlying process and computing the root of the transition probability matrix of an approximating Markov chain. Experimental results in five-dimensions are presented for four different payoff functions.     

A mathematical modeling for the lookback option with jump-diffusion using binomial tree method

The binomial tree method (BTM), first proposed by Cox et al. (1979) [4] in diffusion models and extended by Amin (1993) [9] to jump-diffusion models, is one of the most popular approaches to pricing options. In this paper, we present a binomial tree method for lookback options in jump-diffusion models and show its equivalence to certain explicit difference scheme. We also prove the existence and convergence of the optimal exercise boundary in the binomial tree approximation to American lookback options and give the terminal value of the genuine exercise boundary. Further, numerical simulations are performed to illustrate the theoretical results.     

A combined mixed and discontinuous Galerkin method for compressible miscible displacement problem in porous media

In this paper, we present a numerical scheme for solving the coupled system of compressible miscible displacement problem in porous media. The flow equation is solved by the mixed finite element method, and the transport equation is approximated by a discontinuous Galerkin method. The scheme is continuous in time and a priori hp error estimates is presented.