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Take two independent rate-one Poisson processes $N^{+}$ and $N^{-}$, and letThe difference of independent Poisson processes starts at zero and has stationary increments and independent increments. Its paths are càdlàg. For an interval of length $h$, the probability of any jump is $1-e^{-2h}\to 0$, proving stochastic continuity. Thus $X$ is a Lévy process. The characteristic function of a Poisson distribution with mean $t$ is $\exp (t(e^{iu}-1))$, so independence givesThe sample paths are integer-valued step functions with jumps $+1$ or $-1$. On every bounded interval there are only finitely many jumps, and independent Poisson arrival times coincide with probability zero. The combined arrival rate is two: holding times are independent exponentials of rate two, and each jump direction has probability $1/2$, independently of the holding times. This is equivalently a Compound Poisson process of rate two with Rademacher distribution jump sizes. Its paths have finite variation on compact time intervals, although there are infinitely many jumps over the whole half-line almost surely.

Use the independent increments of Brownian motion, rather than merely checking that an Itô formula drift vanishes. For $0\le s<t$, put $h=t-s$ and write $B_t=B_s+Z$, where $Z$ is independent of ${\mathcal{F}}_s$ and has normal distribution $N(0,h)$. Its first four moments are $0,h,0,3h^2$. ThereforeFor the cubic expression, the coefficient of $B_s$ after conditioning is $3(t-s)+\alpha (t)$, so $\alpha (t)=-3t$ makes it $\alpha (s)$. For the quartic expression, choose $\beta (t)=-6t$. Its conditioned coefficient of $B_s^2$ is then $6(t-s)-6t=-6s$. The constant term becomeswhich equals $3s^2$ when $\gamma (t)=3t^2$. Thus a standard choice isThe resulting stochastic processes are Hermite polynomial martingales $H_3(B_t,t)$ and $H_4(B_t,t)$. They are genuine integrable martingales, since Gaussian moments are finite at every finite time and the displayed conditional identities establish the martingale property directly.

The choice is not unique. Constants $c,d,e\in \mathbb{R}$ give the valid family $\alpha (t)=c-3t$, $\beta (t)=d-6t$, and $\gamma (t)=3t^2-dt+e$: these add $c{B}_t$ to the cubic martingale and $d(B_t^2-t)+e$ to the quartic one. The boxed choice sets these harmless additions to zero.

Sample Brownian motion at integer times and put $Z_n=B_n/\sqrt{n}$. Every $Z_n$ has normal distribution $N(0,1)$, although the $Z_n$ are correlated. LetFor every fixed integer $m$,because $B_m/\sqrt{n}\to 0$ almost surely. The right-hand expression depends only on the future independent increments $B_j-B_{j-1}$ with $j>m$. Thus $\{L\ge a\}$ is, up to a null set, a tail event of those independent increments, and its probability is zero or one by the Kolmogorov zero-one law.

For any finite real $a$, every $Z_n$ exceeds $a$ with the same positive probability $p_a=\mathbb{P}(N(0,1)\ge a)$. For each $N$,Taking the decreasing intersection over $N$ shows that $Z_n\ge a$ infinitely often with probability at least $p_a$. This event implies $L\ge a$, so $\mathbb{P}(L\ge a)>0$. The zero-one law makes it one. Intersecting over positive integers $a$ gives $L=+\infty$ almost surely. The continuous-time limit superior is at least the one along integers, henceThis proves that Brownian fluctuations exceed the square-root scale without needing the lower bound in the law of the iterated logarithm.

A real Lévy process starts at zero with probability one, has stationary increments and independent increments, is stochastically continuous, and is taken in its càdlàg version. Stationarity means $X_{t+s}-X_s$ has the law of $X_t$; independence means increments over disjoint ordered time intervals are independent. Stochastic continuity means $X_s\to X_t$ in probability as $s\to t$. One can equivalently impose starting at zero, stationary independent increments and stochastic continuity first, and then take a càdlàg modification.

A Poisson random measure with sigma-finite intensity $\nu$ on a measurable space $(E,\mathcal{E})$ is a countably additive integer-valued random measure $N$ such that $N(A)$ has Poisson distribution with parameter $\nu (A)$ whenever $\nu (A)<\infty$, and counts on disjoint measurable sets are independent. A set of infinite intensity has infinite count with probability one. For jump processes the space is often time times a mark space, with intensity $dt\nu (dz)$. These conditions specify both the marginal count laws and their joint independence.

Let $Z=X+Y$, where the two Lévy processes are independent as processes. For any disjoint ordered time intervals, the increment vectors of $X$ and $Y$ are independent of one another, and each vector has independent coordinates. Thus the pairs of corresponding increments are independent across intervals, and so are their sums. The law of each summed increment is the convolution of the two increment laws, depending only on the interval length. This proves independent increments and stationary increments for $Z$.

Also $Z_0=0$, and for every $\epsilon >0$,Thus $Z$ is stochastically continuous. The sum of two càdlàg functions is càdlàg. All defining properties hold, so $X+Y$ is a Lévy process. Independence of the entire two processes, not merely equality of some one-time laws, is what supplies independent summed increments.

For fixed rational $0\le t_1<t_2<t_3<t_4$, writeBy independent increments, $Z$ is independent of $(V,W)$ and has normal distribution $N(0,t_3-t_2)$. Conditional on $(V,W)$, the displayed difference has a continuous probability density function; in particular it equals zero with probability zero. Taking the countable intersection over all such rational quadruples proves that, on one event of probability one, the maxima over any two separated rational closed intervals are distinct.

Suppose a local maximum at $t$ were not a strict local maximum. There is a neighbourhood in which every value is at most $B_t$, and, arbitrarily close to $t$, some other time $u$ strictly inside that neighbourhood has $B_u=B_t$. Choose separated rational closed intervals containing $t$ and $u$, both lying inside that neighbourhood. When one time is zero, use a first interval with left endpoint zero. Both interval maxima equal $B_t$, contrary to the preceding event.

Therefore every local maximum of Brownian motion is a strict local maximum almost surely, simultaneously over all times. This countable-interval argument avoids an invalid intersection of probability-one events over uncountably many candidate times.

Construct a rate-$\lambda$ Poisson process, for $\lambda >0$, from independent waiting times $E_j$ with exponential distribution $\mathrm{Exp}(\lambda )$. Put $S_k=E_1+\cdots +E_k$, $S_0=0$, and $N_t=\max \{k:S_k\le t\}$. The strong law of large numbers gives $S_k/k\to 1/\lambda$, so there are only finitely many arrivals on each finite interval. Consequently the counting paths are càdlàg, and $N_0=0$ almost surely.

At any deterministic time $s$, the memorylessness of the exponential distribution says that the residual waiting time has again exponential distribution $\mathrm{Exp}(\lambda )$ and is independent of the observed history. Subsequent waiting times are fresh independent copies. Thus the Poisson process restarts independently at $s$, proving independent increments and stationary increments. Integrating the joint waiting-time densities over $0<s_1<\cdots <s_k\le t<s_{k+1}$ givesso its time values have the expected Poisson distribution.

For $h\downarrow 0$,Together with stationary increments, this gives stochastic continuity at every time, from either side where applicable. All the Lévy process requirements hold, andFor $\lambda =0$, the identically zero process gives the degenerate case.

Use the intrinsic definition of a Lévy process: $X_0=0$ almost surely, its increments over disjoint time intervals are independent, their probability distributions depend only on interval length, and $X$ has stochastic continuity. In symbols,with times restricted to the half-line. Such a stochastic process has a càdlàg modification, and is usually represented by that version. Requiring càdlàg paths in the definition is a common equivalent convention at the level of modifications; it is important to distinguish this from a claim about the paths of an arbitrary supplied version.

For the characteristic function, writeHere $\psi (0)=0$ and $\psi$ is the positive-time-sign characteristic exponent of a Lévy process. The independent increments and stationary increments give ${\varphi }_{s+t}(\theta )={\varphi }_s(\theta ){\varphi }_t(\theta )$; stochastic continuity gives continuity in time and ${\varphi }_0=1$. This continuous multiplicative semigroup has the stated exponential form. Its exponent has the Lévy–Khintchine formulawhere $b\in \mathbb{R}$, ${\sigma }^2\ge 0$, and the Lévy measure $\nu$ satisfies $\int (1\wedge y^2)\nu (dy)<\infty$. The truncation convention fixes the drift coefficient $b$; the displayed sign convention agrees with $\Psi =-\psi$.

Use $c_{\mathrm{prem}}$ for the premium income rate, reserving $c$ later for the smaller exponential decay rate. In the classical risk model, the surplus isHere $\rho$ is the relative safety loading. The aggregate claims form a Compound Poisson process. Define $L_t={\sum }_{j=1}^{N_t}{X}_j-c_{\mathrm{prem}}t$, so ruin occurs when $L_t>u$. By independent increments and the exponential formula for a marked Poisson sum,Thus $Z_t=e^{R{L}_t}$ is a nonnegative continuous-time martingale with $Z_0=1$, because the adjustment coefficient makes the exponent vanish.

Let $\tau =\inf \{t:U_t<0\}$. Apply the optional stopping theorem at the bounded stopping time $\tau \wedge T$. On $\{\tau \le T\}$, $L_{\tau }>u$, soLetting $T$ increase proves the Lundberg inequality and the unscaled limit:

For the precise asymptotic, putThe given exponential integral identity makes $k$ a probability density. Multiplying the given defective renewal equation by $e^{Ru}$ turns it into the ordinary renewal equationFor clarity, the version of the key renewal theorem used here is: if the interarrival law is nonarithmetic, has mean $m_k\in (0,\infty )$, and $g$ is directly Riemann integrable, the locally bounded solution of this renewal equation satisfies $z(u)\to m_k^{-1}{\int }_0^{\infty }g(v)dv$. The infinite-mean version gives zero for nonnegative directly Riemann integrable $g$.

All the hypotheses can be checked here. The density $k$ gives a nonarithmetic distribution. The Tonelli theorem givesFurthermoreThus $g$ is continuous and integrable, and ${\int }_0^{\infty }|g^{\prime }(u)|du\le R\int g+1<\infty$. On a mesh of width $\delta$, the difference between its upper and lower sums is at most $\delta \int |g^{\prime }|$; its upper sum is at most $\int g+\delta \int |g^{\prime }|$. This proves direct Riemann integrability rather than assuming it. Also $0\le z(u)\le 1$ by the Lundberg inequality, so the solution is locally bounded. Its renewal representation is $z=g\ast U_k$, where $U_k={\sum }_{j\ge 0}{K}^{\ast j}$ and $K(dx)=k(x)dx$; the residual after iteration tends to zero on compact intervals because sums of positive interarrivals tend to infinity.

Writing $J={\int }_0^{\infty }x{e}^{Rx}{f}_I(x)dx$, the tilted interarrival expected value is $m_k=hJ$. The key renewal theorem gives the Cramér–Lundberg ruin asymptoticIf $J=\infty$, the same formula is interpreted as $A=0$. A positive finite asymptotic constant requires $J<\infty$; this extra integrability is not explicitly stated in the paper.

For the final two-exponential case, evaluate the defective renewal equation at zero:One can identify the adjustment coefficient without silently assuming $A>0$. For $0<r<c$, setIt is finite and positive. Integrating the nonnegative terms of the defective renewal equation, using the Tonelli theorem, first shows that $F_I(r)={\int }_0^{\infty }{e}^{rx}{f}_I(x)dx$ is finite and then givesAs $r\uparrow c$, $P(r)\to \infty$ because $a>0$. By monotone convergence theorem, $h{F}_I(c)=1$. The integrated tail distribution in the classical risk model has density $f_I(x)=\mathbb{P}(X_1>x)/\mu$, so $F_I(r)=[M(r)-1]/(\mu r)$ by the tail integral formula for moments. Hence $c$ solves the adjustment equation, and its stipulated uniqueness implies $R=c$. Finally the displayed form of $\psi$ gives the remaining constantsIn particular the decay exponent $d$ and the coefficient $b$ do not affect $R$ or $A$. The $c$ in these final answers is the printed decay rate, not $c_{\mathrm{prem}}$.

A standard real Brownian motion relative to a filtration $({\mathcal{F}}_t)$ is an adapted stochastic process with $B_0=0$ almost surely, continuous paths almost surely, andEquivalently, it has independent increments and stationary increments, each with a normal distribution of mean zero and variance equal to the elapsed time, together with continuous paths and the stated initial value. The filtration may be its natural filtration. A Brownian motion started at $z$ is $z+W_t$ for a standard process $W$; multidimensional standard Brownian motion has independent standard real coordinate processes. The normalization is variance $t$ at time $t$.

A real Lévy process is a stochastic process $(X_t{)}_{t\ge 0}$ with $X_0=0$ almost surely, independent increments, stationary increments, and stochastic continuity. The latter means $X_t-X_s\to 0$ in probability as $t\to s$. Its usual path convention is càdlàg: paths are right-continuous and have left limits. Equivalently one starts with the increment and continuity-in-probability conditions and then chooses the càdlàg version.

The Lévy characteristic exponent is specified here bySome conventions use $e^{t\tilde{\psi }(\theta )}$ instead, with $\tilde{\psi }=-\psi$. The sign convention must be fixed before computing the exponent. The zero process satisfies this definition; excluding it requires an additional nondegeneracy condition.

The printed uniqueness claim omits nondegeneracy of the limit. The zero process is a Lévy process, and every $\alpha >1/2$ yields that limit. We first classify all possibilities under the stated assumptions, then identify the unique nonzero one.

For $t>0$, part (b) givesfor each fixed $\theta \ne 0$. If $\alpha <1/2$, the characteristic functions tend to zero for every nonzero parameter and remain one at zero. This discontinuous function cannot be the characteristic function of a probability law. The characteristic-function convergence theorem therefore rules out even one-dimensional weak convergence of random variables at a positive time.

For joint convergence, take $0=t_0<t_1<\cdots <t_m$ and write $q_k={\sum }_{j=k}^m{\theta }_j$. Independent increments giveAt $\alpha =1/2$, this tends to $\exp \{-\frac{1}{2}{\sum }_k(t_k-t_{k-1})q_k^2\}$. These are exactly the joint laws of standard Brownian motion: increments are independent centred normals with variances $t_k-t_{k-1}$. The assumed limiting Lévy process thus has the Brownian law.

For $\alpha >1/2$, the same joint characteristic functions tend to one. Every limiting vector is zero. The càdlàg path convention then makes the limiting process identically zero almost surely: first intersect the zero-value events at rational times, then use right continuity. The complete scaling classification of a continuous-time symmetric simple random walk isIn particular, if a nonzero limiting Lévy process is intended, the unique exponent is $\alpha =1/2$, andThe finite-dimensional Brownian law, together with the Lévy càdlàg convention, determines the process law and its continuous version. No assertion of path-space convergence of the approximating walks is needed here.

The natural filtration of $S$ is the natural Brownian filtration: since $\sigma >0$, the equation $W_t=(\log (S_t/S_0)-\mu t)/\sigma$ recovers the entire Brownian motion history from the stock history. For $s<t$, independent increments and the moment-generating function of a normal distribution giveAll these expectations are finite. Since $S_s>0$, the martingale identity holds for every $s<t$ exactly when the last exponential equals one. The required logarithmic drift isThis is the distinction between the drift of $\log S$ and the drift of $S$: here the latter is zero.

Write $h=T-t$. Conditional on ${\mathcal{F}}_t^S$, independent increments of the Brownian motion givewhere $Y$ has the standard normal distribution and is independent of ${\mathcal{F}}_t^S$. Factoring $S_t$ out of the positive part identifies the normalized Black-Scholes call function:The European call option payoff is integrable, because $0\le (S_T-K{)}^{+}\le S_T$ and $\mathbb{E}{S}_T=S_0$. The tower property of conditional expectation therefore proves that $C$ is a true martingale. At $t=T$, the boundary value $F(0,m)=(1-m{)}^{+}$ gives $C_T=(S_T-K{)}^{+}$. The answer is the conditional payoff martingale

First work with the filtration ${\mathcal{G}}_t={\mathcal{F}}_t^W\vee \sigma (1_{\{u\le \tau \}}:0\le u\le t)$, which records the Brownian motion and whether default has occurred. On $\{s>\tau \}$ all subsequent defaultable stock prices vanish. On $\{s\le \tau \}$, the memoryless property of the exponential distribution gives survival from $s$ to $t$ with conditional probability $e^{-\lambda (t-s)}$. The residual survival event is independent of the future independent increments of the Brownian motion. Thus, for deterministic $s<t$,Also $\mathbb{E}{\hat{S}}_t=e^{\lambda t}{e}^{-\lambda t}{S}_0=S_0$, so this is a true martingale, with no localization needed. Its natural filtration is contained in $\mathcal{G}$; applying the tower property of conditional expectation to the displayed identity yields the requested natural-filtration martingale property:The printed convention keeps the stock alive at $t=\tau$. It is a left-continuous convention at that one random time. Replacing it by $1_{\{t<\tau \}}$ gives the usual càdlàg zero-recovery default model; since $\mathbb{P}(\tau =t)=0$ at each fixed $t$, the fixed-time martingale calculations above are unchanged.

Use the usual completed right-continuous Brownian filtration. The strict passage process $(T_a{)}_{a\ge 0}$ is finite at every level on one probability-one event: finiteness at all integer levels from (a) suffices by monotonicity. Also $T_0=0$ almost surely by (b).

For each fixed $a$, $T_a$ is a stopping time with $B_{T_a}=a$. The Strong Markov property shows that the passage times above this level depend on a new independent standard Brownian motion. Thus for $0\le a<b$, $T_b-T_a$ is independent of the past at $T_a$ and has the same law as $T_{b-a}$. Iteration gives independent increments and stationary increments in the level parameter. From (a) and fixed-level equality,For $\lambda ,\eta >0$, this also proves continuity in probability at zero, sinceFinally, with $M_t={\sup }_{s\le t}{B}_s$, we have $T_a=\inf \{t:M_t>a\}$. This strict generalized inverse of a nondecreasing function is right-continuous: if $a_n\downarrow a$, then for any $t>T_a$ we have $M_t>a$, and eventually $M_t>a_n$, which forces $T_{a_n}\le t$. Monotonicity gives the reverse bound. Monotonicity and local finiteness also give finite left limits. Hence $T$ is the Brownian first-passage subordinator, with càdlàg paths.

Now condition on this clock, which is independent of $W$. For a deterministic partition $0=a_0<a_1<\cdots <a_k$, write $\Delta T_j=T_{a_j}-T_{a_{j-1}}$ and $\Delta X_j=W_{T_{a_j}}-W_{T_{a_{j-1}}}$. Conditional on the clock these are independent centered Gaussian increments, with respective variances $\Delta T_j$. ConsequentlyFactorization and dependence only on interval lengths prove independent increments and stationary increments for $X$. For small $h$, $T_h\to 0$ in probability, and independence and continuity of $W$ imply $W_{T_h}\to 0$ in probability. For example, bound its deviation probability by $\mathbb{P}(T_h>\eta )+\mathbb{P}({\sup }_{t\le \eta }|W_t|>\epsilon )$ and then let $h\downarrow 0$ and $\eta \downarrow 0$. Stationary increments give stochastic continuity at every deterministic level. Composition of the continuous path of $W$ with the nondecreasing càdlàg clock gives càdlàg paths for $X$, and $X_0=0$. ThusThis is subordination of a Lévy process. Using strict passage times ensures the required right-continuous path choice, despite their fixed-level equality with the non-strict times.

A standard one-dimensional Brownian motion is a real-valued stochastic process $(B_t{)}_{t\ge 0}$ satisfying $B_0=0$ almost surely, having continuous paths almost surely, and having independent increments withHere $N(0,t-s)$ is the normal distribution with zero expected value and variance $t-s$. Thus the increments are also stationary increments.

If Brownian motion is defined relative to a specified filtration $({\mathcal{F}}_t)$, additionally require that it is an adapted process and that $B_t-B_s$ is independent of ${\mathcal{F}}_s$. For its natural filtration, this follows from independent increments. These are the defining properties of standard Brownian motion.