Gaussian estimates for the density of the non-linear stochastic heat equation in any space dimension

In this paper, we establish lower and upper Gaussian bounds for the probability density of the mild solution to the non-linear stochastic heat equation in any space dimension. The driving perturbation is a Gaussian noise which is white in time with some spatially homogeneous covariance. These estimates are obtained using tools of the Malliavin calculus. The most challenging part is the lower bound, which is obtained by adapting a general method developed by Kohatsu-Higa to the underlying spatially homogeneous Gaussian setting. Both lower and upper estimates have the same form: a Gaussian density with a variance which is equal to that of the mild solution of the corresponding linear equation with additive noise.     

Large deviation principle for stochastic evolution equations

Summary The large deviation principle obtained by Freidlin and Wentzell for measures associated with finite-dimensional diffusions is extended to measures given by stochastic evolution equations with non-additive random perturbations. The proof of the main result is adopted from the Priouret paper concerning finite-dimensional diffusions. Exponential tail estimates for infinite-dimensional stochastic convolutions are used as main tools.     

A new approach to stochastic evolution equations with adapted drift

In this paper we develop a new approach to stochastic evolution equations with an unbounded drift A which is dependent on time and the underlying probability space in an adapted way. It is well-known that the semigroup approach to equations with random drift leads to adaptedness problems for the stochastic convolution term. In this paper we give a new representation formula for the stochastic convolution which avoids integration of non-adapted processes. Here we mainly consider the parabolic setting. We establish connections with other solution concepts such as weak solutions. The usual parabolic regularity properties are derived and we show that the new approach can be applied in the study of semilinear problems with random drift. At the end of the paper the results are illustrated with two examples of stochastic heat equations with random drift.     

An Itô formula for a family of stochastic integrals and related Wong–Zakai theorems

The aim of this paper is to generalize two important results known for the Stratonovich and Itô integrals to any stochastic integral obtained as limit of Riemann sums with arbitrary evaluating point: the ordinary chain rule for certain nonlinear functions of the Brownian motion and the Wong–Zakai approximation theorem. To this scope we begin by introducing a new family of products for smooth random variables which reduces for specific choices of a parameter to the pointwise and to the Wick products. We show that each product in that family is related in a natural way to a precise choice of the evaluating point in the above mentioned Riemann sums and hence to a certain notion of stochastic integral. Our chain rule relies on a new probabilistic representation for the solution of the heat equation while the Wong–Zakai type theorem follows from a reduction method for quasi-linear SDEs together with a formula of Gjessing’s type.     

Stochastic equations of super-Lévy processes with general branching mechanism

In this work, the process of distribution functions of a one-dimensional super-Lévy process with general branching mechanism is characterized as the pathwise unique solution of a stochastic integral equation driven by time–space Gaussian white noises and Poisson random measures. This generalizes the recent work of Xiong (2013), where the result for a super-Brownian motion with binary branching mechanism was obtained.     

New sufficient conditions of existence,moment estimations and non confluence for SDEs with non-Lipschitzian coefficients

The objective of the present paper is to find new sufficient conditions for the existence of unique strong solutions to a class of (time-inhomogeneous) stochastic differential equations with random, non-Lipschitzian coefficients. We give an example to show that our conditions are indeed weaker than those relevant conditions existing in the literature. We also derive moment estimations for the maximum process of the solution. Finally, we present a sufficient condition to ensure the non confluence property of the solution of time-homogeneous SDE which, in one dimension, is nothing but stochastic monotone property of the solution.     

The stochastic wave equation with fractional noise: A random field approach

We consider the linear stochastic wave equation with spatially homogeneous Gaussian noise, which is fractional in time with index H>1/2$H>1/2$. We show that the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of the solution is a relaxation of the condition obtained in Dalang (1999) [10], where the noise is white in time. Under this condition, we show that the solution is L²(Ω)$L^2\left(\Omega \right)$-continuous. Similar results are obtained for the heat equation. Unlike in the white noise case, the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of the solution in the case of the heat equation is different (and more general) than the one obtained for the wave equation.     

On the stochastic quasi-linear symmetric hyperbolic system

We establish the existence and uniqueness of a local smooth solution to the Cauchy problem for a quasi-linear symmetric hyperbolic system with random noise in Rd. When the noise is multiplicative satisfying some nondegenerate conditions and the initial data are sufficiently small, we show that the solution exists globally in time in probability, i.e., the probability of global existence can be made arbitrarily close to one if the initial date are small accordingly.     

Logarithmic derivatives of invariant measure for stochastic differential equations in hilbert spaces

We consider a process X solution of a semilinear stochastic evolution equation in a Hilbert space. Assuming that X has an invariant measure ν, we investigate its regularity properties. Logarithmic derivatives of ν in certain directions, are shown to exist under appropriate conditions on the nonlinear term in the equation. A set of directions of differentiability for ν is explicitly described in terms of the coefficients of the equation. In some cases, logarithmic derivatives are represented as conditional expectations of random variables related to an appropriate stationary process. An application to a system of stochastic partial differential equations in one space variable is given     

One-dimensional random attractor and rotation number of the stochastic damped sine-Gordon equation

This paper is devoted to the study of the asymptotic dynamics of the stochastic damped sine-Gordon equation with homogeneous Neumann boundary condition. It is shown that for any positive damping and diffusion coefficients, the equation possesses a random attractor, and when the damping and diffusion coefficients are sufficiently large, the random attractor is a one-dimensional random horizontal curve regardless of the strength of noise. Hence its dynamics is not chaotic. It is also shown that the equation has a rotation number provided that the damping and diffusion coefficients are sufficiently large, which implies that the solutions tend to oscillate with the same frequency eventually and the so-called frequency locking is successful.     

Sharp Gaussian regularity on the circle, and applications to the fractional stochastic heat equation

A sharp regularity theory is established for homogeneous Gaussian fields on the unit circle. Two types of characterizations for such a field to have a given almost-sure uniform modulus of continuity are established in a general setting. The first characterization relates the modulus to the field's canonical metric; the full force of Fernique's zero-one laws and Talagrand's theory of majorizing measures is required. The second characterization ties the modulus to the field's random Fourier series representation. As an application, it is shown that the fractional stochastic heat equation has, up to a non-random constant, a given spatial modulus of continuity if and only if the same property holds for a fractional antiderivative of the equation's additive noise; a random Fourier series characterization is also given.     

Choosing joint distributions so that the variance of the sum is small

The paper considers how to choose the joint distribution of several random variables each with a given marginal distribution so that their sum has a variance as small as possible. A theorem is given that allows the solution of this and of related problems for normal random variables. Several specific applications are given. Additional results are provided for radially symmetric joint distributions of three random variables when the sum is identically zero.     

Absolute continuity of the law of the solution to the 3-dimensional stochastic wave equation

We present new results regarding the existence of density of the real-valued solution to a 3-dimensional stochastic wave equation. The noise is white in time and with a spatially homogeneous correlation whose spectral measure μ satisfies that , for some . Our approach is based on the mild formulation of the equation given by means of Dalang's extended version of Walsh's stochastic integration; we use the tools of Malliavin calculus. Let S₃ be the fundamental solution to the 3-dimensional wave equation. The assumption on the noise yields upper and lower bounds for the integral and upper bounds for in terms of powers of t. These estimates are crucial in the analysis of the Malliavin variance, which can be done by a comparison procedure with respect to smooth approximations of the distribution-valued function S₃(t) obtained by convolution with an approximation of the identity.     

On a continuous analogue of the stochastic difference equation Xn=ρXn-1+Bn

Let B₁, B₂, ... be a sequence of independent, identically distributed random variables, letX₀ be a random variable that is independent ofB_n forn?1, let ρ be a constant such that 0<ρ<1 and letX₁,X₂, ... be another sequence of random variables that are defined recursively by the relationshipsX_n=ρX_n-1+B_n. It can be shown that the sequence of random variablesX₁,X₂, ... converges in law to a random variableX if and only ifE[log⁺¦B₁¦]<∞. In this paper we let {B(t):0≦t<∞} be a stochastic process with independent, homogeneous increments and define another stochastic process {X(t):0?t<∞} that stands in the same relationship to the stochastic process {B(t):0?t<∞} as the sequence of random variablesX₁,X₂,...stands toB₁,B₂,.... It is shown thatX(t) converges in law to a random variableX ast →+∞ if and only ifE[log⁺¦B(1)¦]<∞ in which caseX has a distribution function of class L. Several other related results are obtained. The main analytical tool used to obtain these results is a theorem of Lukacs concerning characteristic functions of certain stochastic integrals.     

BSDEs under partial information and financial applications

In this paper we provide existence and uniqueness results for the solution of BSDEs driven by a general square-integrable martingale under partial information. We discuss some special cases where the solution to a BSDE under restricted information can be derived by that related to a problem of a BSDE under full information. In particular, we provide a suitable version of the Föllmer–Schweizer decomposition of a square-integrable random variable working under partial information and we use this achievement to investigate the local risk-minimization approach for a semimartingale financial market model.     

An inverse first-passage problem for one-dimensional diffusions with random starting point

We consider an inverse first-passage time (FPT) problem for a homogeneous one-dimensional diffusion X(t), starting from a random position η. Let S(t) be an assigned boundary, such that P(η≥S(0))=1, and F an assigned distribution function. The problem consists of finding the distribution of η such that the FPT of X(t) below S(t) has distribution F. We obtain some generalizations of the results of Jackson et al., 2009, which refer to the case when X(t) is Brownian motion and S(t) is a straight line across the origin.     

Singular homogenization with stationary in time and periodic in space coefficients

We study the homogenization problem for a random parabolic operator with coefficients rapidly oscillating in both the space and time variables and with a large highly oscillating nonlinear potential, in a general stationary and mixing random media, which is periodic in space. It is shown that a solution of the corresponding Cauchy problem converges in law to a solution of a limit stochastic PDE.     

Hilbert-Space-Valued Super-Brownian Motion and Related Evolution Equations

A stochastic partial differential equation in which the square root of the solution appears as the diffusion coefficient is studied as a particular case of stochastic evolution equations. Weak existence of a solution is proved by the Euler approximation scheme. The super-Brownian motion on [0, 1] is also studied as a Hilbert-space-valued equation. In this set up, weak existence, pathwise uniqueness, and positivity of solutions are obtained in any dimension d . Accepted 23 October 1998     

Existence of mild solutions for stochastic differential equations and semilinear equations with non-Gaussian Lévy noise

Existence and uniqueness of the mild solutions for stochastic differential equations for Hilbert valued stochastic processes are discussed, with the multiplicative noise term given by an integral with respect to a general compensated Poisson random measure. Parts of the results allow for coefficients which can depend on the entire past path of the solution process. In the Markov case Yosida approximations are also discussed, as well as continuous dependence on initial data, and coefficients. The case of coefficients that besides the dependence on the solution process have also an additional random dependence is also included in our treatment. All results are proven for processes with values in separable Hilbert spaces. Differentiable dependence on the initial condition is proven by adapting a method of S. Cerrai.     

Pathwise definition of second-order SDEs

In this article, a class of second-order differential equations on [0,1], driven by a γ-Hölder continuous function for any value of γ∈(0,1) and with multiplicative noise, is considered. We first show how to solve this equation in a pathwise manner, thanks to Young integration techniques. We then study the differentiability of the solution with respect to the driving process and consider the case where the equation is driven by a fractional Brownian motion, with two aims in mind: show that the solution that we have produced coincides with the one which would be obtained with Malliavin calculus tools, and prove that the law of the solution is absolutely continuous with respect to the Lebesgue measure.