Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 201 3 d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Let be Brownian motion in started at a nonzero point. The function is a positive harmonic function on because its Laplacian vanishes there. Stopping on annuli and applying Itô formula shows that is a local martingale. Letting the inner boundary shrink to zero also shows that three-dimensional Brownian motion does not hit the origin.
A positive local martingale is a supermartingale, so is -bounded by . The upcrossing proof from part (c), which applies verbatim to a positive supermartingale, therefore gives a finite almost-sure limit
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 201 5 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For , Itô formula shows thatis a martingale. Take expectations and let . The function is bounded on the compact set , while is bounded and by part (a). The dominated convergence theorem therefore gives Dynkin formula for Brownian motion
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 202 1 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Apply Itô formula to . Its semimartingale decomposition isThe second term is a continuous finite-variation process. Since is assumed to be a local martingale, uniqueness of the semimartingale decomposition makes this term identically zero. Both and are nonzero, so the quadratic variation of is .
The Lévy characterization of Brownian motion now says that is a Brownian motion. Consequentlyis a constant multiple of an exponential Brownian martingale. It is therefore a true martingale for every .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 202 1 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Use first the test function . The assumed martingale problem says thatis a continuous local martingale. Next use to see thatis a local martingale. On the other hand, Itô formula applied to shows thatis a local martingale. Their difference is both a continuous local martingale and a finite-variation process, so
Part (b), with , supplies a Brownian motion such thatThereforeso is a weak solution of a stochastic differential equation to the stated equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 202 2 d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
PutThen uniformly, , and . Itô formula givesThe bounded predictable integrands converge pointwise to , with . Part (c) therefore makes the stochastic integrals converge u.c.p. The left-hand side converges u.c.p. to , so the increasing continuous processesalso converge u.c.p. Their limit has a continuous increasing version: extract almost-sure locally uniform convergence from each compact interval and use a diagonal argument. We obtainthe Tanaka formula with . It expresses as a continuous local martingale plus a continuous finite-variation process, so is a continuous semimartingale.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 202 4 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
In the Black-Scholes model,Conditioning on and using the moment-generating function of the independent Gaussian increment givesThe function satisfies the zero-rate Black-Scholes equation, so Itô formula leaves only its stochastic term:Consequently the required delta hedge is