Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/iii/paper-48/4/a/solution

An instantaneous forward rate curve determines the unit-face-value zero-coupon bond through and . Integrating in maturity gives
The diagonal is the short rate, , and the continuous-time bank account has when . Therefore the discounted bond price martingale has value
Under the risk-neutral measure of the Heath-Jarrow-Morton model, sufficiently integrable discounted bond prices are true martingales; without that integrability their stochastic dynamics initially establish a local martingale.

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