Itô’s stochastic calculus and Heisenberg commutation relations

Stochastic calculus and stochastic differential equations for Brownian motion were introduced by K. Itô in order to give a pathwise construction of diffusion processes. This calculus has deep connections with objects such as the Fock space and the Heisenberg canonical commutation relations, which have a central role in quantum physics. We review these connections, and give a brief introduction to the noncommutative extension of Itô’s stochastic integration due to Hudson and Parthasarathy. Then we apply this scheme to show how finite Markov chains can be constructed by solving stochastic differential equations, similar to diffusion equations, on the Fock space.     

Quantum and non-causal stochastic calculus

Summary The quantum stochastic calculus initiated by Hudson and Parthasarathy, and the non-causal stochastic calculus originating with the papers of Hitsuda and Skorohod, are two potent extensions of the Itô calculus, currently enjoying intensive development. The former provides a quantum probabilistic extension of Schrödinger's equation, enabling the construction of a Markov process for a quantum dynamical semigroup. The latter allows the treatment of stochastic differential equations which involve terms which anticipate the future. In this paper the close relationship between these theories is displayed, and a noncausal quantum stochastic calculus, already in demand from physics, is described.     

Second order stochastic differential equations and non-Gaussian reciprocal diffusions

Summary We first prove that a Markov diffusion satisfies a second order stochastic differential equation involving the invariants associated to its reciprocal class as a reciprocal process. Some properties of the noise term are given. We also prove that this equation can be viewed as an Euler Lagrange equation in a problem of calculus of variations. In the non markovian case, a Bernstein bridge is shown to satisfy the same equation but in a weak sense.     

Two-parameter diffusion processes and martingales

We introduce a class of two-parameter processes which are diffusions on each coordinate and satisfy a particular Markov property related to the partial ordering in R²₊. These processes can be expressed as solutions of some stochastic integral equations driven by a two-parameter Wiener process and two families of ordinary Brownian motions. This result is based on a characterization of two-parameter martingales with orthogonal increments.     

Computing conditional expectations of multidimensional diffusion processes

We study multidimensional diffusion processes and give an explicit representation for their conditional expectation. Starting from the solution formula for one dimensional stochastic differential equations found in Lanconelli and Proske [8], we compute the conditional expectation of a certain class of multidimensional diffusions without resorting to the Markov property of the process and therefore without requiring an explicit expression for the semi group associated to it.     

On strong solutions for positive definite jump diffusions

We show the existence of unique global strong solutions of a class of stochastic differential equations on the cone of symmetric positive definite matrices. Our result includes affine diffusion processes and therefore extends considerably the known statements concerning Wishart processes, which have recently been extensively employed in financial mathematics.Moreover, we consider stochastic differential equations where the diffusion coefficient is given by the αth positive semidefinite power of the process itself with 0.5<α<1 and obtain existence conditions for them. In the case of a diffusion coefficient which is linear in the process we likewise get a positive definite analogue of the univariate GARCH diffusions.     

Properties of solutions of stochastic differential equations with continuous-state-dependent switching

This work is concerned with several properties of solutions of stochastic differential equations arising from hybrid switching diffusions. The word “hybrid” highlights the coexistence of continuous dynamics and discrete events. The underlying process has two components. One component describes the continuous dynamics, whereas the other is a switching process representing discrete events. One of the main features is the switching component depending on the continuous dynamics. In this paper, weak continuity is proved first. Then continuous and smooth dependence on initial data are demonstrated. In addition, it is shown that certain functions of the solutions verify a system of Kolmogorov's backward differential equations. Moreover, rates of convergence of numerical approximation algorithms are dealt with.     

Reciprocal diffusions and stochastic differential equations of second order ∗

We develop a theory of second order diffusion processes and associated stochastic differential equations of second order. We show that equations of evolution of the density, mean velocity and momentum flux are a family of first order conservation laws similar to those of continuum mechanics. We verify that the theory is satisfied for a large class of reciprocal Gaussian processes     

Asymptotic expansion of stochastic flows

Summary We study the asymptotic expansion in small time of the solution of a stochastic differential equation. We obtain a universal and explicit formula in terms of Lie brackets and iterated stochastic Stratonovich integrals. This formula contains the results of Doss [6], Sussmann [15], Fliess and Normand-Cyrot [7], Krener and Lobry [10], Yamato [17] and Kunita [11] in the nilpotent case, and extends to general diffusions the representation given by Ben Arous [3] for invariant diffusions on a Lie group. The main tool is an asymptotic expansion for deterministic ordinary differential equations, given by Strichartz [14].     

Infinite horizon BSDEs in infinite dimensions with continuous driver and applications

This paper is devoted to forward-backward systems of stochastic differential equations in which the forward equation is not coupled to the backward one, both equations are infinite dimensional and on the time interval [0, + ∞). The forward equation defines an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, the driver of the backward equation has a linear part which is the generator of a strongly continuous, dissipative, compact semigroup, and a nonlinear part which is assumed to be continuous with linear growth. Under the assumption of equivalence of the laws of the solution to the forward equation, we prove the existence of a solution to the backward equation. We apply our results to a stochastic game problem with infinitely many players.     

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.     

Stationary backward stochastic differential equations and associated partial differential equations

By replacing the final condition for backward stochastic differential equations (in short: BSDEs) by a stationarity condition on the solution process we introduce a new class of BSDEs. In a natural manner we associate to such BSDEs the periodic solution of second order partial differential equations with periodic structure. Received: 11 October 1996 / Revised version: 15 February 1999     

Stochastic wave equation of pure jumps: Existence,uniqueness and invariant measures

In this paper, we investigate a class of nonlinear damped stochastic hyperbolic equations with jumps. The jump component considered here is described as a Poisson point process. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with existence and uniqueness of global weak and strong solutions to this type of equations, based on the energy approach. The second part devotes to the existence and support of invariant measures corresponding to the weak solution semi-group, based on Markov property of the solution.     

Non-uniqueness of stationary measures for self-stabilizing processes

We investigate the existence of invariant measures for self-stabilizing diffusions. These stochastic processes represent roughly the behavior of some Brownian particle moving in a double-well landscape and attracted by its own law. This specific self-interaction leads to nonlinear stochastic differential equations and permits pointing out singular phenomena like non-uniqueness of associated stationary measures. The existence of several invariant measures is essentially based on the non-convex environment and requires generalized Laplace’s method approximations.     

Subgeometric rates of convergence of f-ergodic strong Markov processes

We provide a condition in terms of a supermartingale property for a functional of the Markov process, which implies (a) f$f$-ergodicity of strong Markov processes at a subgeometric rate, and (b) a moderate deviation principle for an integral (bounded) functional. An equivalent condition in terms of a drift inequality on the extended generator is also given. Results related to (f,r)$(f,r)$-regularity of the process, of some skeleton chains and of the resolvent chain are also derived. Applications to specific processes are considered, including elliptic stochastic differential equations, Langevin diffusions, hypoelliptic stochastic damping Hamiltonian systems and storage models.     

Large deviations for small noise diffusions with discontinuous statistics

This paper proves the large deviation principle for a class of non-degenerate small noise diffusions with discontinuous drift and with state-dependent diffusion matrix. The proof is based on a variational representation for functionals of strong solutions of stochastic differential equations and on weak convergence methods. Received: 26 May 1998 / Revised version: 24 February 1999     

On dissipative stochastic equations in a Hilbert space

Summary A general existence and uniqueness theorem for solutions of linear dissipative stochastic differential equation in a Hilbert space is proved. The dual equation is introduced and the duality relation is established. Proofs take inspirations from quantum stochastic calculus, however without using it. Solutions of both equations provide classical stochastic representation for a quantum dynamical semigroup, describing quantum Markovian evolution. The problem of the mean-square norm conservation, closely related to the unitality (non-explosion) of the quantum dynamical semigroup, is considered and a hyperdissipativity condition, ensuring such conservation, is discussed. Comments are given on the existence of solutions of a nonlinear stochastic differential equation, introduced and discussed recently in physical literature in connection with continuous quantum measurement processes.     

Stochastic partial differential equations for some measure-valued diffusions

Summary We consider two classes of measure-valued diffusion processes; measure-valued branching diffusions and Fleming-Viot diffusion models. When the basic space is R ¹, and the drift operator is a fractional Laplacian of order 1<α≦2, we derive stochastic partial differential equations based on a space-time white noise for these two processes. The former is the expected one by Dawson, but the latter is a new type of stochastic partial differential equation.     

Cramér's asymptotics in systems with fast and slow motions

This paper is devoted to the averaging principle for stochastic systems with slow and intermixing fast motions. Here we (i) prove the existence of the Cramér type asymptotics for the probabilities of large deviations from an averaged motion, which implies the central limit theorem, and (ii) develop an analytic procedure for computation of this asymptotics. We use general apparatus of superregular perturbations of fiber ergodic semigroups to investigate two systems in the same way. The first of them is a cascade in which slow motions are determined by a vector field depending both on slow and fast variables, and fast motions compose a Markov chain depending on the slow variable. The second is a process defined by a system of two stochastic differential equations.     

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.