Strong approximation of semimartingales and statistical processes

Summary As an application of general convergence results for semimartingales, exposed in their book Limit Theorems for Stochastic Processes, Jacod and Shiryaev obtained a fundamental result on the convergence of likelihood ratio processes to a Gaussian limit. We strengthen this result in a quantitative sense and show that versions of the likelihood ratio processes can be defined on the space of the limiting experiment such that we get pathwise almost sure approximations with respect to the uniform metric. The approximations are considered under both sequences of measures, the hypothesisP ⁿ and the alternative . A consequence is e.g. an estimate for the speed of convergence in the Prohorov metric. New approximation techniques for stochastic processes are developed.This article was processed by the author using the L^AT_EX style filepljourIm from Springer-Verlag.     

Almost sure behaviour ofF-valued random fields

Summary LetX _n, n ^d be a field of independent random variables taking values in a semi-normed measurable vector spaceF. For a broad class of fields _n, ^d of positive numbers, the almost sure behaviour of _knX_k/_n, n ^d is studied. The main result allows us to deduce some new and well-known theorems for fields of independentF random variables from related results for fields of independent real random variables.Supported in part by the Youth Science Foundation of China, No. 19001018Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Speed of convergence as a function of given accuracy for random search methods

The essence of this article lies in a demonstration of the fact that for some random search methods (r.s.m.) of global optimization, the number of the objective function evaluations required to reach a given accuracy may have very slow (logarithmic) growth to infinity as the accuracy tends to zero. Several inequalities of this kind are derived for some typical Markovian monotone r.s.m. in metric spaces including thed-dimensional Euclidean space ^d and its compact subsets. In the compact case, one of the main results may be briefly outlined as a constructive theorem of existence: if is a first moment of approaching a good subset of-neighbourhood ofx ₀=arg maxf by some random search sequence (r.s.s.), then we may choose parameters of this r.s.s. in such a way that E c(f) In² . Certainly, some restrictions on metric space and functionf are required.     

A new approach to the single point catalytic super-Brownian motion

Summary A new approach is provided to the super-Brownian motionX with a single point-catalyst _c as branching rate. We start from a superprocessU with constant branching rate and spatial motion given by the 1/2-stable subordinator. We prove that the occupation density measure ^c ofX at the catalystc is distributed as the total occupation time measure ofU. Furthermore, we show thatX _t is determined from ^c by an explicit representation formula. Heuristically, a mass ^c (ds) of particles leaves the catalyst at times and then evolves according to Itô's Brownian excursion measure. As a consequence of our representation formula, the density fieldx ofX satisfies the heat equation outside ofc, with a noisy boundary condition atc given by the singularly continuous random measure ^c . In particular,x isC outside the catalyst. We also provide a new derivation of the singularity of the measure ^c .     

Riemann-measurable selections

LetX be a Polish space equipped with a -finite regular Borel measure . IfE is a metric space andF a set-valued function:X 2 ^E with complete values, and ifF is lower semicontinuous at almost all points ofX, we prove that there exists a Riemann-measurable selections ofF.     

Multilevel large deviations and interacting diffusions

Summary Let ( ^N ) be a sequence of random variables with values in a topological space which satisfy the large deviation principle. For eachM and eachN, let ^{M, N} denote the empirical measure associated withM independent copies of ^N . As a main result, we show that ( ^{M, N} ) also satisfies the large deviation principle asM,N. We derive several representations of the associated rate function. These results are then applied to empirical measure processes ^{M, N} (t) =M ^–1 _i=1 ^N _i ^N (t) 0tT, where ( ₁ ^N ,..., _M ^N (t)) is a system of weakly interacting diffusions with noise intensity 1/N. This is a continuation of our previous work on the McKean-Vlasov limit and related hierarchical models ([4], [5]).Research partially supported by a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada operating grant     

On reflecting diffusion processes and Skorokhod decompositions

Summary LetG be ad-dimensional bounded Euclidean domain, H¹ (G) the set off in L²(G) such that f (defined in the distribution sense) is in L²(G). Reflecting diffusion processes associated with the Dirichlet spaces (H¹(G), ) on L²(G, dx) are considered in this paper, where A=(a^ij is a symmetric, bounded, uniformly ellipticd×d matrix-valued function such thata ^ij H¹(G) for eachi,j, and H¹(G) is a positive bounded function onG which is bounded away from zero. A Skorokhod decomposition is derived for the continuous reflecting Markov processes associated with (H¹(G), ) having starting points inG under a mild condition which is satisfied when G has finite (d–1)-dimensional lower Minkowski content.     

Large deviations for the invariant measure of a reaction-diffusion equation with non-Gaussian perturbations

Summary In this paper we establish a large deviations principle for the invariant measure of the non-Gaussian stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) _t v =v +f(x,v )+(x,v ) . Here is a strongly-elliptic second-order operator with constant coefficients, h:=DH _xx-h, and the space variablex takes values on the unit circleS ¹. The functionsf and are of sufficient regularity to ensure existence and uniqueness of a solution of the stochastic PDE, and in particular we require that 0<mM wherem andM are some finite positive constants. The perturbationW is a Brownian sheet. It is well-known that under some simple assumptions, the solutionv ² is aC ^k (S ¹)-valued Markov process for each 0<1/2, whereC (S ¹) is the Banach space of real-valued continuous functions onS ¹ which are Hölder-continuous of exponent . We prove, under some further natural assumptions onf and which imply that the zero element ofC (S ¹) is a globally exponentially stable critical point of the unperturbed equation _t ⁰ = ⁰ +f(x,⁰), that has a unique stationary distributionv ^K, on (C (S ¹), (C ^K (S ¹))) when the perturbation parameter is small enough. Some further calculations show that as tends to zero,v ^K, tends tov ^K,0, the point mass centered on the zero element ofC (S ¹). The main goal of this paper is to show that in factv ^K, is governed by a large deviations principle (LDP). Our starting point in establishing the LDP forv ^K, is the LDP for the process , which has been shown in an earlier paper. Our methods of deriving the LDP forv ^K, based on the LDP for are slightly non-standard compared to the corresponding proofs for finite-dimensional stochastic differential equations, since the state spaceC (S ¹) is inherently infinite-dimensional.This work was performed while the author was with the Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA     

The Brownian snake and solutions of Δu=u 2 in a domain

Summary We investigate the connections between the path-valued process called the Brownian snake and nonnegative solutions of the partial differential equation u=u ² in a domain of ^d . In particular, we prove two conjectures recently formulated by Dynkin. The first one gives a complete characterization of the boundary polar sets, which correspond to boundary removable singularities for the equation u=u ². The second one establishes a one-to-one correspondence between nonnegative solutions that are bounded above by a harmonic function, and finite measures on the boundary that do not charge polar sets. This correspondence can be made explicit by a probabilistic formula involving a special class of additive functionals of the Brownian snake. Our proofs combine probabilistic and analytic arguments. An important role is played by a new version of the special Markov property, which is of independent interest.     

Pseudo Jordan domains and reflecting Brownian motions

Summary The manifold metric between two points in a planar domain is the minimum of the lengths of piecewiseC ¹ curves in the domain connecting these two points. We define a bounded simply connected planar region to be a pseudo Jordan domain if its boundary under the manifold metric is topologically homeomorphic to the unit circle. It is shown that reflecting Brownian motionX on a pseudo Jordan domain can be constructed starting at all points except those in a boundary subset of capacity zero.X has the expected Skorokhod decomposition under a condition which is satisfied when G has finite 1-dimensional lower Minkowski content.     

Elementary modifications and line configurations in ℙ<Superscript>2</Superscript>

Associated to a projective arrangement of hyperplanes ${\mathcal A}$ ⁿ is the module D$({\mathcal A})$, which consists of derivations tangent to ${\mathcal A}$. We study D$({\mathcal A})$ when ${\mathcal A}$ is a configuration of lines in ². In this setting, we relate the deletion/restriction construction used in the study of hyperplane arrangements to elementary modifications of bundles. This allows us to obtain bounds on the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of D$({\mathcal A})$. We also give simple combinatorial conditions for the associated bundle to be stable, and describe its jump lines. These regularity bounds and stability considerations impose constraints on Teraos conjecture.     

Local times on curves and uniform invariance principles

Summary Sufficient conditions are given for a family of local times |L _t ^µ | ofd-dimensional Brownian motion to be jointly continuous as a function oft and . Then invariance principles are given for the weak convergence of local times of lattice valued random walks to the local times of Brownian motion, uniformly over a large family of measures. Applications included some new results for intersection local times for Brownian motions on ² and ².Research partially supported by NSF grant DMS-8822053     

On the asymptotic and invariantσ-algebras of random walks on locally compact groups

Summary Consider a random walk of law on a locally compact second countable groupG. Let the starting measure be equivalent to the Haar measure and denote byQ the corresponding Markov measure on the space of pathsG . We study the relation between the spacesL (G , ^a ,Q) andL (G , ⁱ ,Q) where ^a and ⁱ stand for the asymptotic and invariant -algebras, respectively. We obtain a factorizationL (G , ^a ,Q) L (G , ⁱ ,Q)L (C) whereC is a cyclic group whose order (finite or infinite) coincides with the period of the Markov shift and is determined by the asymptotic behaviour of the convolution powers ⁿ.     

Brownian charges around loops

Summary Let (X _t ⁿ ) be a Poisson sequence of independent Brownian motions in ^d ,d3; Let be a compact oriented submanifold of d, of dimensiond–2 and volume ; let t be the sum of the windings of (X _s ⁿ , 0st) around ; then t/t converges in law towards a Cauchy variable of parameter /2. A similar result is valid when the winding is replaced by the integral of a harmonic 1-form in ^d .     

On basicity of exponentials inL P (dμ) and general prediction problems

Let be a nonnegative measure on the unit circle in the complex plane and 1<p<. It is of interest to find conditions on so that the set of exponentialse ⁱⁿ form a strongM-basis forL ^p (d). Some partial results are proved which can shed some light on this important open question. These results are of fundamental importance in the prediction theory of stochastic processes and other fields of applications. These results is then used to obtain a theorem which reduces some prediction problems to easier ones.To 80^th birthday of Paul ErdsThis research is supported by Office of Naval Research Grant No N00014-89-J-1824.     

The scaling limit for a stochastic PDE and the separation of phases

Summary We investigate the problem of singular perturbation for a reaction-diffusion equation with additive noise (or a stochastic partial differential equation of Ginzburg-Landau type) under the situation that the reaction term is determined by a potential with double-wells of equal depth. As the parameter (the temperature of the system) tends to 0, the solution converges to one of the two stable phases and consequently the phase separation is formed in the limit. We derive a stochastic differential equation which describes the random movement of the phase separation point. The proof consists of two main steps. We show that the solution stays near a manifoldM of minimal energy configurations based on a Lyapunov type argument. Then, the limit equation is identified by introducing a nice coordinate system in a neighborhood ofM .Research partially supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science     

On the semimartingale representation of reflecting Brownian motion in a cusp

Summary LetC be the symmetric cusp {(x, y)²:–x yx ,x0} where >1. In this paper we decide whether or not reflecting Brownian motion inC has a semimartingale representation. Here the reflecting Brownian motion has directions of reflection that make constant angles with the unit inward normals to the boundary. Our results carry through for a wide class of asymmetric cusps too.     

Conditioned super-Brownian motion

Summary We investigate classes of conditioned super-Brownian motions, namely H-transformsP ^H with non-negative finitely-based space-time harmonic functionsH(t, ). We prove thatH ^H is the unique solution of a martingale problem with interaction and is a weak limit of a sequence of rescaled interacting branching Brownian motions. We identify the limit behaviour of H-transforms with functionsH(t, )=h(t, (1)) depending only on the total mass (1). Using the Palm measures of the super-Brownian motion we describe for an additive spacetime harmonic functionH(t, )=h(t, x) (dx) theH-transformP ^H as a conditioned super-Brownian motion in which an immortal particle moves like an h-transform of Brownian motion.     

On some extremal problems in H p and the prediction ofL p -harmonizable stochastic processes

Summary We providesimple andsuccinct solutions to two dual extremal problems in the Hardy spacesH ^p , and to an aspect of the linear prediction problem for a certain class of discrete and continuous parameter L ^p -harmonizable stochastic processes, for all 1p<. Two of the results presented appear new. The methods of proof of the rest of the results provide alternatesimpler andshorter proofs for some earlier known theorems.This research is partially supported by AFSOR Grant No. 90-016 8 and the University of Tennessee Science Alliance, a State of Tennessee Center of Excellence     

Asymptotic limit law for the close approach of two trajectories in expanding maps of the circle

Summary Given two pointsx, yS ¹ randomly chosen independently by a mixing absolutely continuous invariant measure of a piecewise expanding and smooth mapf of the circle, we consider for each >0 the point process obtained by recording the timesn>0 such that |f ⁿ (x)–f ⁿ (y)|. With the further assumption that the density of is bounded away from zero, we show that when tends to zero the above point process scaled by –1 converges in law to a marked Poisson point process with constant parameter measure. This parameter measure is given explicity by an average on the rate of expansion off.Partially supported by FAPESP grant number 90/3918-5