Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 29 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let , , and let have the standard normal distribution. For a twice differentiable payoff with enough growth control for the following expectations and derivatives, risk-neutral pricing in the dividend-free Black-Scholes model givesThe conditional discounted payoff is a martingale under the risk-neutral measure. Applying the Itô formula to and setting its drift to zero therefore gives the Black-Scholes equationThe delta hedge holds shares; the remaining bond value is , or units of the zero-coupon bond. Substitution in the Itô formula and the displayed equation gives , proving replication and self-financing.
Differentiating the pricing expectation in the current stock price gives its option delta and option gamma:Thus a nondecreasing payoff has a nondecreasing price; a nonincreasing payoff has a nonincreasing price. A convex payoff has , and a concave payoff has . This is convexity preservation in Black-Scholes pricing.
The Black-Scholes parameter sensitivities follow directly from the same expectation. Differentiation in the interest rate gives the option rhoFor spot volatility, differentiation first givesThe Gaussian integration by parts identity , applied to , cancels the term containing and gives the option vegaConsequently increasing spot volatility increases a convex payoff's value and decreases a concave payoff's value, with weak inequalities in affine or degenerate cases. A short bond position gives positive option rho, while a long bond position gives negative option rho. The physical stock drift does not enter these prices: the risk-neutral measure replaces it by .
The option theta is the calendar-time derivative at fixed current stock price. The Black-Scholes equation givesFor , a convex payoff with therefore has , while a concave payoff with has . The signs are strict when . At , an affine payoff can give equality. Remaining-maturity sensitivity is when the payoff is independent of . All these time comparisons hold at fixed current stock price.
The stated time-monotonicity conclusion needs the nonnegative-rate condition. For example, the convex affine payoff hasThus with negative interest rates it provides an explicit counterexample even though the replica is short in bonds.