Confinement of Brownian motion among Poissonian obstacles in ℝ d , d≥ 3

Consider Brownian motion among random obstacles obtained by translating a fixed compact nonpolar subset of ℝ ^d , d≥ 1, at the points of a Poisson cloud of constant intensity v <: 0. Assume that Brownian motion is absorbed instantaneously upon entering the obstacle set. In SZN-conf Sznitman has shown that in d = 2, conditionally on the event that the process does not enter the obstacle set up to time t, the probability that Brownian motion remains within distance ∼t ^1/4 from its starting point is going to 1 as t goes to infinity. We show that the same result holds true for d≥ 3, with t ^1/4 replaced by t ^{1/( d +2)}. The proof is based on Sznitmans refined method of enlargement of obstacles [10] as well as on a quantitative isoperimetric inequality due to Hall [4]. Received: 6 July 1998     

Asymptotics of the principal eigenvalue and expected hitting time for positive recurrent elliptic operators in a domain with a small puncture

Let X(t) be a positive recurrent diffusion process corresponding to an operator L on a domain D⊆R^d with oblique reflection at ∂D if D≠R^d. For each x∈D, we define a volume-preserving norm that depends on the diffusion matrix a(x). We calculate the asymptotic behavior as ε→0 of the expected hitting time of the ε-ball centered at x and of the principal eigenvalue for L in the exterior domain formed by deleting the ball, with the oblique derivative boundary condition at ∂D and the Dirichlet boundary condition on the boundary of the ball. This operator is non-self-adjoint in general. The behavior is described in terms of the invariant probability density at x and Det(a(x)). In the case of normally reflected Brownian motion, the results become isoperimetric-type equalities.     

Harmonic functions of subordinate killed Brownian motion

In this paper we study harmonic functions of subordinate killed Brownian motion in a domain D. We first prove that, when the killed Brownian semigroup in D is intrinsic ultracontractive, all nonnegative harmonic functions of the subordinate killed Brownian motion in D are continuous and then we establish a Harnack inequality for these harmonic functions. We then show that, when D is a bounded Lipschitz domain, both the Martin boundary and the minimal Martin boundary of the subordinate killed Brownian motion in D coincide with the Euclidean boundary ∂D. We also show that, when D is a bounded Lipschitz domain, a boundary Harnack principle holds for positive harmonic functions of the subordinate killed Brownian motion in D.     

On the most visited sites by a symmetric stable process

Summary. At time t, the most visited site of a linear Brownian motion is defined as the point which realises the supremum of the local times at time t. Let V be the time indexed process of the most visited sites by a linear Brownian motion. We show that every value is polar for V. Those results are extended from Brownian motion to symmetric stable processes, and then to the absolute value of a symmetric stable process. Received: 1 March 1996 / In revised form: 17 October 1996     

Brownian asymptotics in a Poissonian environment

Summary We consider a Brownian motion moving in a random potential obtained by translating a given fixed non negative shape function at the points of a Poisson cloud. We derive the almost sure principal long time behavior of the expectation of the natural Feynman Kac functional, which is insensitive to the detail of the shape function. We also study the situation of hard obstacles where Brownian motion is killed once it comes within distancea of a point of the cloud. The nature of the results then changes between the case whena is small or large in connection with the presence, or absence of an infinite component in the complement of the obstacles.     

On the convergence to the multiple Wiener-Itô integral

We study the convergence to the multiple Wiener-Itô integral from processes with absolutely continuous paths. More precisely, consider a family of processes, with paths in the Cameron-Martin space, that converges weakly to a standard Brownian motion in C₀([0,T]). Using these processes, we construct a family that converges weakly, in the sense of the finite dimensional distributions, to the multiple Wiener-Itô integral process of a function f∈L²(n[0,T]). We prove also the weak convergence in the space C₀([0,T]) to the second-order integral for two important families of processes that converge to a standard Brownian motion.     

On the law of the iterated logarithm

An analogue of the law of the iterated logarithm for Brownian motion in Banach spaces is proved where the expression √2 loglog s is replaced by a positive non-decreasing function satisfying certain conditions.     

The structure of a Brownian bubble

Summary We examine local geometric properties of level sets of the Brownian sheet, and in particular, we identify the asymptotic distribution of the area of sets which correspond to excursions of the sheet high above a given level in the neighborhood of a particular random point. It is equal to the area of certain individual connected components of the random set {(s, t):B(t)>b(s)}, whereB is a standard Brownian motion andb is (essentially) a Bessel process of dimension 3. This limit distribution is studied and, in particular, explicit formulas are given for the probability that a point belongs to a specific connected component, and for the expected area of a component given the height of the excursion ofB(t)-b(s) in this component. These formulas are evaluated numerically and compared with the results from direct simulations ofB andb.The research of this author was partially supported by grants DMS-9103962 from the National Science Foundation and DAAL03-92-6-0323 from the Army Research Office     

Optimization of small deviation for mixed fractional Brownian motion with trend

In this paper, we investigate two-sided bounds for the small ball probability of a mixed fractional Brownian motion with a general deterministic trend function, in terms of respective small ball probability of a mixed fractional Brownian motion without trend. To maximize the lower bound, we consider various ways to split the trend function between the components of the mixed fractional Brownian motion for the application of Girsanov theorem, and we show that the optimal split is the solution of a Fredholm integral equation. We find that the upper bound for the probability is also a function of this optimal split. The asymptotic behaviour of the probability as the ball becomes small is analysed for zero trend function and for the particular choice of the upper limiting function.     

Small ball probabilities of Gaussian fields

Summary Lower bounds on the small ball probability are given for Brownian sheet type Gaussian fields as well as for general Gaussian fields with stationary increments in ^d . In particular, a sharp bound is found for the fractional Lévy Brownian fields.The research is partly supported by a National University of Singapore's Research Project     

Escape Probabilities for Branching Brownian Motion Among Soft Obstacles

We derive asymptotics for the quenched probability that a critical branching Brownian motion killed at a small rate ε in Poissonian obstacles exits from a large domain. Results are formulated in terms of the solution to a semilinear partial differential equation with singular boundary conditions. The proofs depend on a quenched homogenization theorem for branching Brownian motion among soft obstacles.     

Truncated variation, upward truncated variation and downward truncated variation of Brownian motion with drift — Their characteristics and applications

In ?ochowski (2008) [9] we defined truncated variation of Brownian motion with drift, W_t=B_t+μt,t≥0, where (B_t) is a standard Brownian motion. Truncated variation differs from regular variation in neglecting jumps smaller than some fixed c>0. We prove that truncated variation is a random variable with finite moment-generating function for any complex argument.We also define two closely related quantities — upward truncated variation and downward truncated variation.The defined quantities may have interpretations in financial mathematics. The exponential moment of upward truncated variation may be interpreted as the maximal possible return from trading a financial asset in the presence of flat commission when the dynamics of the prices of the asset follows a geometric Brownian motion process.We calculate the Laplace transform with respect to the time parameter of the moment-generating functions of the upward and downward truncated variations.As an application of the formula obtained we give an exact formula for the expected values of upward and downward truncated variations. We also give exact (up to universal constants) estimates of the expected values of the quantities mentioned.     

Exit probability estimates for martingales in geodesic balls,using curvature

Summary Kallenberg and Sztencel have recently discovered exponential upper bounds, independent of dimension, on the probability that a vector martingale will exit from a ball in Euclidean space by timet. This article extends their results to martingales on Riemannian manifolds, including Brownian motion, and shows how exit probabilities depend on curvature. Using comparison with rotationally symmetric manifolds, these estimates are easily computable, and are sharp up to a constant factor in certain cases.     

Quenched invariance principle for simple random walk on discrete point processes

We consider the simple random walk on random graphs generated by discrete point processes. This random walk moves on graphs whose vertex set is a random subset of a cubic lattice and whose edges are lines between any consecutive vertices on lines parallel to each coordinate axis. Under the assumption that the discrete point processes are finitely dependent and stationary, we prove that the quenched invariance principle holds, i.e., for almost every configuration of the point process, the path distribution of the walk converges weakly to that of a Brownian motion.     

Self-similarity of Brownian motion and a large deviation principle for random fields on a binary tree

Summary Using self-similarity of Brownian motion and its representation as a product measure on a binary tree, we construct a random sequence of probability measures which converges to the distribution of the Brownian bridge. We establish a large deviation principle for random fields on a binary tree. This leads to a class of probability measures with a certain self-similarity property. The same construction can be carried out forC[0, 1]-valued processes and we can describe, for instance, aC[0, 1]-valued Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process as a large deviation of Brownian sheet.     

The modulus of non-differentiability of a Brownian motion in l p

Small ball probability is estimated for a Brownian motion in l _p. As an application we establish the modulus of non-differentiability of a Brownian motion in l _p. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

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.     

Probabilizing parking functions

We explore the link between combinatorics and probability generated by the question “What does a random parking function look like?” This gives rise to novel probabilistic interpretations of some elegant, known generating functions. It leads to new combinatorics: how many parking functions begin with i? We classify features (e.g., the full descent pattern) of parking functions that have exactly the same distribution among parking functions as among all functions. Finally, we develop the link between parking functions and Brownian excursion theory to give examples where the two ensembles differ.     

Free Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes

Free Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes are studied in finite von Neumann algebras. It is shown that a free self-decomposable probability measure on R can be realized as the distribution of a stationary free Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process driven by a free Levy process. A characterization of a probability measure on R to be the stationary distribution of a periodic free Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process driven by a free Levy process is given in terms of the Levy measure of the measure. Finally, the notion of a free fractional Brownian motion is introduced. It is proved that the free stochastic differential equation driven by a fractional free Brownian motion has a unique solution. We call the solution a fractional free Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process.