We establish a connection between the scattering inverse problem and the determination of the distribution of the position of the Levy process at the exit time of a bounded interval in term of its Levy exponent.
We present a new approach to fluctuation identities for reflected Lévy processes with one-sided jumps. This approach is based on a number of easy to understand observations and does not involve excursion theory or Itô calculus. It also leads to more general results.
We give an interpretation of the bilateral exit problem for Lévy processes via the study of an elementary Markov chain. We exhibit a strong connection between this problem and Krein's theory on strings. For instance, for symmetric Lévy processes with bounded variations, the Lévy exponent is the correspondant spectral density and the Wiener-Hopf factorization turns out to be a version of Krein's entropy formula.
We estimate a median of $f(X_t)$ where $f$ is a Lipschitz function, $X$ is a Lévy process and $t$ an arbitrary time. This leads to concentration inequalities for $f(X_t)$. 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.
In the recent paper \cite{Ng5} we have introduced a method of studying the multi-dimensional Kingman convolutions and their associated stochastic processes by embedding them into some multi-dimensional ordinary convolutions which allows to study multi-dimensional Bessel processes in terms of the cooresponding Brownian motions. Our further aim in this paper is to introduce k-dimensional Kingman-Lévy (KL) processes and prove some of their fluctuation properties which are analoguous to that of k-symmetric Lévy processes. In particular, the Lévy-Itô decomposition and the series representation of R…
A level-dependent Lévy process solves the stochastic differential equation $dU(t) = dX(t)-ϕ(U(t)) dt$, where $X$ is a spectrally negative Lévy process. A special case is a multi-refracted Lévy process with $ϕ_k(x)=\sum_{j=1}^kδ_j1_{\{x\geq b_j\}}$. A general rate function $ϕ$ that is non-decreasing and continuously differentiable is also considered. We discuss solutions of the above stochastic differential equation and investigate the so-called scale functions, which are counterparts of the scale functions from the theory of Lévy processes. We show how fluctuation identities for $U$ can be exp…
A fluctuation theory and, in particular, a theory of scale functions is developed for upwards skip-free Lévy chains, i.e. for right-continuous random walks embedded into continuous time as compound Poisson processes. This is done by analogy to the spectrally negative class of Lévy processes -- several results, however, can be made more explicit/exhaustive in our compound Poisson setting. In particular, the scale functions admit a linear recursion, of constant order when the support of the jump measure is bounded, by means of which they can be calculated -- some examples are considered.
We establish a novel characterisation of the law of the convex minorant of any Lévy process. Our self-contained elementary proof is based on the analysis of piecewise linear convex functions and requires only very basic properties of Lévy processes. Our main result provides a new simple and self-contained approach to the fluctuation theory of Lévy processes, circumventing local time and excursion theory. Easy corollaries include classical theorems, such as Rogozin's regularity criterion, Spitzer's identities and the Wiener-Hopf factorisation, as well as a novel factorisation identity.
The last couple of years has seen a remarkable number of new, explicit examples of the Wiener-Hopf factorization for Levy processes where previously there had been very few. We mention in particular the many cases of spectrally negative Levy processes, hyper-exponential and generalized hyper-exponential Levy processes, Lamperti-stable processes, Hypergeometric processes, Beta-processes and Theta-processes. In this paper we introduce a new family of Levy processes, which we call Meromorphic Levy processes, or just M-processes for short, which overlaps with many of the aforementioned classes. A …
In this paper we solve the exit problems for (reflected) spectrally negative Lévy processes, which are exponentially killed with a killing intensity dependent on the present state of the process and analyze respective resolvents. All identities are given in terms of new generalizations of scale functions. For the particular cases $ω(x)=q$ and $ω(x)=q \mathbf{1}_{(a,b)}(x)$, we obtain results for the classical exit problems and the Laplace transforms of the occupation times in a given interval, until first passage times, respectively. Our results can also be applied to find the bankruptcy proba…
There is an abundance of useful fluctuation identities for one-sided Lévy processes observed up to an independent exponentially distributed time horizon. We show that all the fundamental formulas generalize to time horizons having matrix exponential distributions, and the structure is preserved. Essentially, the positive killing rate is replaced by a matrix with eigenvalues in the right half of the complex plane which, in particular, applies to the positive root of the Laplace exponent and the scale function. Various fundamental properties of thus obtained matrices and functions are establishe…
We study the Wiener-Hopf factorization for Lévy processes $X_t$ with completely monotone jumps. Extending previous results of L.C.G. Rogers, we prove that the space-time Wiener-Hopf factors are complete Bernstein functions of both the spatial and the temporal variable. As a corollary, we prove complete monotonicity of: (a) the tail of the distribution function of the supremum of $X_t$ up to an independent exponential time; (b) the Laplace transform of the supremum of $X_t$ up to a fixed time $T$, as a function of $T$. The proof involves a detailed analysis of the holomorphic extension of the c…
We find an expression for the joint Laplace transform of the law of $(T_{[x,+\infty[},X_{T_{[x,+\infty[}})$ for a Lévy process $X$, where $T_{[x,+\infty[}$ is the first hitting time of $[x,+\infty[$ by $X$. When $X$ is an $α$-stable Lévy process, with $1<α<2$, we show how to recover from this formula the law of $X_{T_{[x,+\infty[}}$; this result was already obtained by D. Ray, in the symmetric case and by N. Bingham, in the case when $X$ is non spectrally negative. Then, we study the behaviour of the time of first passage $T_{[x,+\infty[},$ conditioned to $\{X_{T_{[x,+\infty[}} -x \leq h\}$ wh…
We study the scale function of the spectrally negative phase-type Levy process. Its scale function admits an analytical expression and so do a number of its fluctuation identities. Motivated by the fact that the class of phase-type distributions is dense in the class of all positive-valued distributions, we propose a new approach to approximating the scale function and the associated fluctuation identities for a general spectrally negative Levy process. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the approximation method.
We study the distribution and various properties of exponential functionals of hypergeometric Levy processes. We derive an explicit formula for the Mellin transform of the exponential functional and give both convergent and asymptotic series expansions of its probability density function. As applications we present a new proof of some of the results on the density of the supremum of a stable process, which were recently obtained by Kuznetsov "On extrema of stable processes" (2010) and Hubalek and Kuznetsov "A convergent series representation for the density of the supremum of a stable process"…
We consider the passage time problem for Lévy processes, emphasising heavy tailed cases. Results are obtained under quite mild assumptions, namely, drift to $-\infty$ a.s. of the process, possibly at a linear rate (the finite mean case), but possibly much faster (the infinite mean case), together with subexponential growth on the positive side. Local and functional versions of limit distributions are derived for the passage time itself, as well as for the position of the process just prior to passage, and the overshoot of a high level. A significant connection is made with extreme value theory…
We ask for necessary and sufficient conditions for almost sure finiteness of the perpetual integrals of a Levy process. Zero-one laws are already known for Brownian motion with drift and spectrally one-sided Levy processes. Under the assumption that local times exist, we use fluctuation theory and Jeulin's lemma to prove the zero-one law.
A new approach to solve the continuous-time stochastic inventory problem using the fluctuation theory of Levy processes is developed. This approach involves the recent developments of the scale function that is capable of expressing many fluctuation identities of spectrally one-sided Levy processes. For the case with a fixed cost and a general spectrally positive Levy demand process, we show the optimality of an (s,S)-policy. The optimal policy and the value function are concisely expressed via the scale function. Numerical examples under a Levy process in the beta-family with jumps of infinit…
As well known, all functionals of a Markov process may be expressed in terms of the generator operator, modulo some analytic work. In the case of spectrally negative Markov processes however, it is conjectured that everything can be expressed in a more direct way using the $W$ scale function which intervenes in the two-sided first passage problem, modulo performing various integrals. This conjecture arises from work on Levy processes \cite{AKP,Pispot,APP,Iva,IP, ivanovs2013potential,AIZ,APY}, where the $W$ scale function has explicit Laplace transform, and is therefore easily computable; furth…
With a view to computing fluctuation identities related to stable processes, we review and extend the class of hypergeometric Lévy processes explored in Kuznetsov and Pardo (arXiv:1012.0817). We give the Wiener-Hopf factorisation of a process in the extended class, and characterise its exponential functional. Finally, we give three concrete examples arising from transformations of stable processes.
The joint distribution of the maximum loss and the maximum gain is obtained for a spectrally negative Levy process until the passage time of a given level. Their marginal distributions up to an independent exponential time are also provided. The existing formulas for Brownian motion with drift are recovered using the particular scale functions.Keywords Maximum drawdown Maximum drawup Spectrally negative Reflected process Fluctuation theory
A spectrally positive additive Lévy field is a multidimensional field obtained as the sum $\mathbf{X}_{\rm t}={\rm X}^{(1)}_{t_1}+{\rm X}^{(2)}_{t_2}+\dots+{\rm X}^{(d)}_{t_d}$, ${\rm t}=(t_1,\dots,t_d)\in\mathbb{R}_+^d$, where ${\rm X}^{(j)}={}^t (X^{1,j},\dots,X^{d,j})$, $j=1,\dots,d$, are $d$ independent $\mathbb{R}^d$-valued Lévy processes issued from 0, such that $X^{i,j}$ is non decreasing for $i\neq j$ and $X^{j,j}$ is spectrally positive. It can also be expressed as $\mathbf{X}_{\rm t}=\mathbb{X}_{\rm t}{\bf 1}$, where ${\bf 1}={}^t(1,1,\dots,1)$ and $\mathbb{X}_{\rm t}=(X^{i,j}_{t_j})…
We determine the rate of decrease of the right tail distribution of the exponential functional of a Levy process with a convolution equivalent Levy measure. Our main result establishes that it decreases as the right tail of the image under the exponential function of the Levy measure of the underlying Levy process. The method of proof relies on fluctuation theory of Levy processes and an explicit path-wise representation of the exponential functional as the exponential functional of a bivariate subordinator. Our techniques allow us to establish rather general estimates of the measure of the ex…
This paper provides a framework for investigations in fluctuation theory for Lévy processes with matrix-exponential jumps. We present a matrix form of the components of the infinitely divisible factorization. Using this representation we establish generalizations of some results known for compound Poisson processes with exponential jumps in one direction and generally distributed jumps in the other direction.
Kuznetsov et al. (2011) and Kuznetsov and Pardo (2013) introduced the family of Hypergeometric Lévy processes. They appear naturally in the study of fluctuations of stable processes when one analyses stable processes through the theory of positive self-similar Markov processes. Hypergeometric Lévy processes are defined through their characteristic exponent, which, as a complex-valued function, has four independent parameters. Kyprianou et al. (2014) showed that the definition of a Hypergeometric Lévy process could be taken to include a greater range of the aforesaid parameters than originally …
In this paper we consider storage and inventory systems. Our aim is to apply and review main results of the fluctuation theory of stochastic processes in the context of storage and inventory modeling. We describe systems where the inflow is due to a Lévy process and the outflow is linear and conversely systems where the inflow is linear and the outflow is due to a Lévy process. For such systems we investigate the process of a storage (inventory) level. We give formulas for the probability that the storage level exceeds a certain value. This probability is crucial in the management of storage a…
For spectrally negative Lévy processes, we prove several fluctuation results involving a general draw-down time, which is a downward exit time from a dynamic level that depends on the running maximum of the process. In particular, we find expressions of the Laplace transforms for the two-sided exit problems involving the draw-down time. We also find the Laplace transforms for the hitting time and creeping time over the running-maximum related draw-down level, respectively, and obtain an expression for a draw-down associated potential measure. The results are expressed in terms of scale functio…
In this paper we consider a modified version of the classical optimal dividends problem of de Finetti in which the dividend payments subject to a penalty at ruin. We assume that the risk process is modeled by a general spectrally positive Levy process before dividends are deducted. Using the fluctuation theory of spectrally positive Levy processes we give an explicit expression of the value function of a barrier strategy. Subsequently we show that a barrier strategy is the optimal strategy among all admissible ones. Our work is motivated by the recent work of Bayraktar, Kyprianou and Yamazaki …
We consider a class of two-sided singular control problems. A controller either increases or decreases a given spectrally negative Levy process so as to minimize the total costs comprising of the running and control costs where the latter is proportional to the size of control. We provide a sufficient condition for the optimality of a double barrier strategy, and in particular show that it holds when the running cost function is convex. Using the fluctuation theory of doubly reflected Levy processes, we express concisely the optimal strategy as well as the value function using the scale functi…
This paper investigates a dividend optimization problem with a positive creeping-associated terminal value at ruin for spectrally negative Levy processes. We consider an insurance company whose surplus process evolves according to a spectrally negative Levy process with a Gaussian part and a finite Levy measure. Its objective function relates to dividend payments until ruin and a creeping-associated terminal value at ruin. The positive creeping-associated terminal value represents the salvage value or the creeping reward when creeping happens. Owing to formulas from fluctuation theory, the obj…
Scale functions play a central role in the fluctuation theory of spectrally negative Lévy processes and often appear in the context of martingale relations. These relations are often complicated to establish requiring excursion theory in favour of Itô calculus. The reason for the latter is that standard Itô calculus is only applicable to functions with a sufficient degree of smoothness and knowledge of the precise degree of smoothness of scale functions is seemingly incomplete. The aim of this article is to offer new results concerning properties of scale functions in relation to the smoothnes…
We prove a general fluctuation limit theorem for Galton-Watson branching processes with immigration. The limit is a time-inhomogeneous OU type process driven by a spectrally positive Levy process. As applications of this result, we obtain some asymptotic estimates for the conditional least-squares estimator of the offspring means and variances of the offspring and immigration distributions.