Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 40 6 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Differentiating the European call option price in strike gives, for ,The strike derivative uses dominated convergence; the second uses the continuous density. Also,Differentiate the supplied time-integral identity and the discount factor. Continuity of the density supplies the diffusion-term derivative. For the tail first moment, continuity in time follows from continuous stock paths, locally uniformly bounded second moments, and the absence of an atom at . ThereforeHence the Dupire equation isIts initial condition is ; natural strike boundaries are and as . These are consistent with the discounted stock martingale and integrable tails. Where , the same identity gives local volatility recovery from call prices:The equation evolves in maturity and strike, unlike the backward option-value equation in calendar time and spot.