A useful finite-horizon form of the Girsanov theorem is as follows. Let be a Brownian motion and an adapted, progressively measurable process with almost surely. Suppose its stochastic exponential
is a true martingale with mean one. The Novikov condition is a sufficient condition. Under the equivalent probability measure , the process is a Brownian motion.
For the proof sketch, the Itô formula gives . Integration by parts cancels the drift in , since from cancels . After localization, the Bayes formula for conditional expectation makes a continuous local martingale under . Its quadratic variation is still , because adding a finite-variation process does not change quadratic variation. One can see the Brownian conclusion directly: for real , the Itô formula makes a local martingale. Its modulus is bounded on the fixed horizon, so it is a true martingale. Thus
This is the conditional characteristic function of a centered normal distribution with variance , independent of the past. Continuity and these independent normal increments give the defining properties of Brownian motion.
Now put and , the standard normal distribution function. At zero drift the endpoint density of paths staying below is
Indeed, reflect the portion of a path after its first hitting time of . By continuity and the independent symmetric Brownian motion increments after this stopping time, reflection preserves its probability law and maps a crossing path ending at to a path ending at . This subtracts exactly from the unrestricted endpoint density; it is the Brownian reflection principle.
Taking the constant drift tilt in the Girsanov theorem makes under have the same law as under . Therefore the desired finite-horizon maximum of Brownian motion with drift has probability
Completing squares gives and . Hence
The maximum has no atom at a positive level, so strict and weak barrier inequalities agree. This also follows from continuity of the displayed distribution function. At the formula reduces to .
For the up-and-out power claim, write and use the risk-neutral measure for the Black-Scholes model, under which
with . The barrier survives exactly when . Its risk-neutral pricing value is
The factor inside the expectation is a mean-one Exponential martingale for Brownian motion. Under the probability tilted by it, is a Brownian motion, so the barrier process has drift . Applying the preceding survival formula yields
As , the bracket tends to one and the price becomes the discounted second moment . As , it tends to zero. If , use the deterministic path instead: the price is when , and zero otherwise. At , with , the price is simply .
Let and write for the Brownian terminal density. By the Brownian reflection principle, for the reflected paths that hit and end at have terminal density . Hence
The Girsanov theorem changes zero drift into drift using the finite-horizon density . The finite-horizon maximum of Brownian motion with drift therefore has distribution function
In the first integral term, complete the square to get a normal density with mean . In the second, substitute and complete the square with mean ; the prefactor is . Here is the standard normal distribution function, and .
Let , with real. Survival means that stays below . Tilt by ; under the tilted probability, has drift . Applying the maximum formula with drift gives the exponential terminal moment below a linear Brownian boundary
This holds for every real . The maximum distribution has no atom at the positive barrier, so strict or weak survival inequalities give the same probability here.
For the hitting-time moment, first use drift in the maximum formula and take the complementary probability:
If and , their standard normal densities satisfy . Differentiating the two terms, with and , yields the drifted Brownian first-passage density
Its total mass need not be one, because the upward-sloping boundary may never be reached.
For , put . Multiplication by gives . Integrating to produces truncated discounted Brownian first passage, with negative discount rate allowed when the square root remains real:
This includes the equality case , where it becomes . The expression integrates only finite hitting times up to ; no value is assigned to an exponential at an infinite hitting time.
For the cash-at-hit digital call, use the risk-neutral measure in the Black-Scholes model and denote expiry by . Then
Hitting corresponds to , where and . The unit-cash payment is made at the hitting time, so risk-neutral valuation discounts at that time, not at expiry. Set and
The identity on the right verifies the square-root condition even for negative interest rates. The time-zero price is
This is in pounds for the unit-pound contract. It differs from a maturity-paid digital call option, whose discounting and exercise event are different.
Up-and-out power claim 2026-10-14
An up-and-out power claim pays a power of the terminal stock price provided an upper barrier has never been reached. In the Black-Scholes model, set and , where , and . The risk-neutral pricing value is
Here is the standard normal distribution function. Weighting the Brownian motion endpoint by changes the logarithmic drift to ; the finite-horizon maximum of Brownian motion with drift then supplies the survival factor.