The scaling limit of Poisson-driven order statistics with applications in geometric probability

Let _ηt${\eta }_t$ be a Poisson point process of intensity t≥1$t\ge 1$ on some state space Y$\mathbb{Y}$ and let f$f$ be a non-negative symmetric function on Y^k${\mathbb{Y}}^k$ for some k≥1$k\ge 1$. Applying f$f$ to all k$k$-tuples of distinct points of _ηt${\eta }_t$ generates a point process _ξt${\xi }_t$ on the positive real half-axis. The scaling limit of _ξt${\xi }_t$ as t$t$ tends to infinity is shown to be a Poisson point process with explicitly known intensity measure. From this, a limit theorem for the m$m$-th smallest point of _ξt${\xi }_t$ is concluded. This is strengthened by providing a rate of convergence. The technical background includes Wiener–Itô chaos decompositions and the Malliavin calculus of variations on the Poisson space as well as the Chen–Stein method for Poisson approximation. The general result is accompanied by a number of examples from geometric probability and stochastic geometry, such as k$k$-flats, random polytopes, random geometric graphs and random simplices. They are obtained by combining the general limit theorem with tools from convex and integral geometry.     

Weak convergence of censored and reflected stable processes

It is shown that if a sequence of open n$n$-sets _Dk$D_k$ increases to an open n$n$-set D$D$ then reflected stable processes in _Dk$D_k$ converge weakly to the reflected stable process in D$D$ for every starting point x$x$ in D$D$. The same result holds for censored α$\alpha$-stable processes for every x$x$ in D$D$ if D$D$ and _Dk$D_k$ satisfy the uniform Hardy inequality. Using the method in the proof of the above results, we also prove the weak convergence of reflected Brownian motions in unbounded domains.     

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 ∞$\infty$.     

Reflection principle and Ocone martingales

Let M=_(Mt)t≥0$M={\left(M_t\right)}_{t\ge 0}$ be any continuous real-valued stochastic process. We prove that if there exists a sequence _(an)n≥1${\left(a_n\right)}_{n\ge 1}$ of real numbers which converges to 0 and such that M$M$ satisfies the reflection property at all levels _an$a_n$ and 2_an$2a_n$ with n≥1$n\ge 1$, then M$M$ is an Ocone local martingale with respect to its natural filtration. We state the subsequent open question: is this result still true when the property only holds at levels _an$a_n$? We prove that this question is equivalent to the fact that for Brownian motion, the σ$\sigma$-field of the invariant events by all reflections at levels _an$a_n$, n≥1$n\ge 1$ is trivial. We establish similar results for skip free Z$\mathbb{Z}$-valued processes and use them for the proof in continuous time, via a discretization in space.     

Median,concentration and fluctuations for Lévy processes

We estimate a median of f(_Xt)$f\left(X_t\right)$ where f$f$ is a Lipschitz function, X$X$ is a Lévy process and t$t$ is an arbitrary time. This leads to concentration inequalities for f(_Xt)$f\left(X_t\right)$. In turn, corresponding fluctuation estimates are obtained under assumptions typically satisfied if the process has a regular behavior in small time and a, possibly different, regular behavior in large time.     

Asymptotics of a Brownian ratchet for protein translocation

Protein translocation in cells has been modelled by Brownian ratchets  . In such models, the protein diffuses through a nanopore. On one side of the pore, ratcheting molecules bind to the protein and hinder it to diffuse out of the pore. We study a Brownian ratchet by means of a reflected Brownian motion _(Xt)t≥0${\left(X_t\right)}_{t\ge 0}$ with a changing reflection point _(Rt)t≥0${\left(R_t\right)}_{t\ge 0}$. The rate of change of _Rt$R_t$ is γ(_Xt−_Rt)$\gamma (X_t-R_t)$ and the new reflection boundary is distributed uniformly between _Rt−$R_{t-}$ and _Xt$X_t$. The asymptotic speed of the ratchet scales with γ^1/3${\gamma }^{1/3}$ and the asymptotic variance is independent of γ$\gamma$.     

Large deviations of infinite intersections of events in Gaussian processes

Consider events of the form {_Zs≥ζ(s),s∈S}$\{Z_s\ge \zeta \left(s\right),s\in S\}$, where Z$Z$ is a continuous Gaussian process with stationary increments, ζ$\zeta$ is a function that belongs to the reproducing kernel Hilbert space R$R$ of process Z$Z$, and S⊂R$S\subset \mathbb{R}$ is compact. The main problem considered in this paper is identifying the function β^∗∈R${\beta }^{\ast }\in R$ satisfying β^∗(s)≥ζ(s)${\beta }^{\ast }\left(s\right)\ge \zeta \left(s\right)$ on S$S$ and having minimal R$R$-norm. The smoothness (mean square differentiability) of Z$Z$ turns out to have a crucial impact on the structure of the solution. As examples, we obtain the explicit solutions when ζ(s)=s$\zeta \left(s\right)=s$ for s∈[0,1]$s\in [0,1]$ and Z$Z$ is either a fractional Brownian motion or an integrated Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process.     

Measurability of semimartingale characteristics with respect to the probability law

Given a càdlàg process X$X$ on a filtered measurable space, we construct a version of its semimartingale characteristics which is measurable with respect to the underlying probability law. More precisely, let _Psem${\mathfrak{P}}_{sem}$ be the set of all probability measures P$P$ under which X$X$ is a semimartingale. We construct processes (B^P,C,ν^P)$(B^P,C,{\nu }^P)$ which are jointly measurable in time, space, and the probability law P$P$, and are versions of the semimartingale characteristics of X$X$ under P$P$ for each P∈_Psem$P\in {\mathfrak{P}}_{sem}$. This result gives a general and unifying answer to measurability questions that arise in the context of quasi-sure analysis and stochastic control under the weak formulation.     

Unilateral small deviations of processes related to the fractional Brownian motion

Let x(s)$x\left(s\right)$, s∈R^d$s\in R^d$ be a Gaussian self-similar random process of index H$H$. We consider the problem of log-asymptotics for the probability _pT$p_T$ that x(s)$x\left(s\right)$, x(0)=0$x\left(0\right)=0$ does not exceed a fixed level in a star-shaped expanding domain T⋅Δ$T\cdot \Delta$ as T→∞$T\to \infty$. We solve the problem of the existence of the limit, θ?lim(−log_pT)/(logT)^D$\theta ?lim(-log{p}_T)/{(logT)}^D$, T→∞$T\to \infty$, for the fractional Brownian sheet x(s)$x\left(s\right)$, s∈[0,T]²$s\in {[0,T]}^2$ when D=2$D=2$, and we estimate θ$\theta$ for the integrated fractional Brownian motion when D=1$D=1$.     

Oscillation of harmonic functions for subordinate Brownian motion and its applications

In this paper, we establish an oscillation estimate of nonnegative harmonic functions for a pure-jump subordinate Brownian motion. The infinitesimal generator of such subordinate Brownian motion is an integro-differential operator. As an application, we give a probabilistic proof of the following form of relative Fatou theorem for such subordinate Brownian motion X$X$ in a bounded κ$\kappa$-fat open set; if u$u$ is a positive harmonic function with respect to X$X$ in a bounded κ$\kappa$-fat open set D$D$ and h$h$ is a positive harmonic function in D$D$ vanishing on D^c$D^c$, then the non-tangential limit of u/h$u/h$ exists almost everywhere with respect to the Martin-representing measure of h$h$.     

Non-homogeneous random walks on a semi-infinite strip

We study the asymptotic behaviour of Markov chains (_Xn,_ηn)$(X_n,{\eta }_n)$ on _Z+×S${\mathbb{Z}}_{+}\times S$, where _Z+${\mathbb{Z}}_{+}$ is the non-negative integers and S$S$ is a finite set. Neither coordinate is assumed to be Markov. We assume a moments bound on the jumps of _Xn$X_n$, and that, roughly speaking, _ηn${\eta }_n$ is close to being Markov when _Xn$X_n$ is large. This departure from much of the literature, which assumes that _ηn${\eta }_n$ is itself a Markov chain, enables us to probe precisely the recurrence phase transitions by assuming asymptotically zero drift for _Xn$X_n$ given _ηn${\eta }_n$. We give a recurrence classification in terms of increment moment parameters for _Xn$X_n$ and the stationary distribution for the large- X$X$ limit of _ηn${\eta }_n$. In the null case we also provide a weak convergence result, which demonstrates a form of asymptotic independence between _Xn$X_n$ (rescaled) and _ηn${\eta }_n$. Our results can be seen as generalizations of Lamperti’s results for non-homogeneous random walks on _Z+${\mathbb{Z}}_{+}$ (the case where S$S$ is a singleton). Motivation arises from modulated queues or processes with hidden variables where _ηn${\eta }_n$ tracks an internal state of the system.