Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 28J a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The first condition is that is Markov with transition semigroup
. The second is that, for every function
,is a martingale.
. The second is that, for every function
,is a martingale.
The first condition implies the second by conditioning over a short time interval, using
, summing increments, and passing to the limit. This is Dynkin's formula.
, summing increments, and passing to the limit. This is Dynkin's formula.
Conversely assume the martingale problem for a continuous-time Markov chain. Fix and a function , and putThe backward equation gives . Applying the martingale identity to this time-dependent function shows that is a martingale. Therefore, for ,Taking indicator functions proves both the Markov property and the transition semigroup .