Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 22 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Here is the Brownian change-of-drift form of the Girsanov theorem. Let be a standard Brownian motion on and predictable with almost surely. Suppose the stochastic exponentialis a true martingale with . Define . Then is equivalent to andThe same statement holds in dimensions with scalar products, squared norms and a vector drift. Novikov's condition is a standard sufficient condition for the true-martingale hypothesis. Bounded is enough for all applications below.
For the proof, Itô formula gives . The Itô product rule gives the cancellationThe two drift terms cancel because . Stop when its absolute value reaches , at a time capped by . The same product calculation makes a local martingale under . Its absolute value is at most ; the density martingale is uniformly integrable over this finite horizon, so the stopped product is a true martingale. Bayes' conditional identity then givesAs increases, these stopping times exhaust the horizon by continuity. Thus is a continuous local martingale under . Adding a finite-variation drift does not change quadratic variation, so .
To prove the Brownian conclusion rather than just assert it, for every real apply Itô formula to . Its differential is , and its modulus is bounded on the fixed horizon, so it is a true martingale. ConsequentlyThe conditional characteristic function identifies a centered normal increment with variance , independent of the past. Together with continuity and , this proves the Brownian assertion. For vector , the same argument uses and gives the multivariate version. If , stopping and applying Itô formula to gives a uniform second-moment bound by Gronwall inequality; this proves uniform integrability of the stopped densities and the needed true-martingale property in the bounded case.
In the Black-Scholes model with its usual augmented Brownian filtration, write , , with . Take , the market price of risk. Under , the preceding change of drift givesso is a martingale. The Martingale representation theorem then makes integrable Brownian-market claims attainable and gives their risk-neutral pricing as discounted conditional expectations. The physical drift has disappeared from the price dynamics.
For the joint terminal-value and maximum law, first use the Brownian reflection principle at level . Reflecting a path after its first hit of preserves its law as a Brownian motion and sends a terminal value to ; the symmetry and strong Markov property of the post-hit increments justify this map. Thus, with ,Take the constant-drift exponential density . By Girsanov theorem, the coordinate process under this tilted measure has the law of under . Consequently, for and ,Completing the squares givesIntegrating provesHere is the standard normal distribution function. The first variable is the terminal Brownian value, distinct from its running maximum.
Set , and . Under the risk-neutral measure, . Taking in the joint law gives the probability of not hitting the upper level. Complementing it and discounting the unit payment at maturity gives the one-touch option priceThe exponential weight is also . The payment occurs at , even if the barrier was hit earlier, so its discount factor is , not a hitting-time discount factor.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 31 6 Solution 2026-10-14
Here is a finite-horizon Girsanov theorem statement with the sign fixed explicitly. Let be a Brownian motion under , and let be predictable with almost surely. Ifis a true martingale with , then the measure defined by makes a Brownian motion up to . The sufficient Novikov condition is . Merely being a local martingale is not a sufficient density condition.
For a deterministic absolutely continuous function with and derivative , take . Novikov's condition holds because its exponential is deterministic and finite. Under , the canonical process has the law of a Brownian motion plus . Thus for every bounded measurable path functional ,This derives the Cameron-Martin theorem density formula from the Girsanov theorem, rather than assuming the two measures have the same drift convention. Replacing by changes the sign of the stochastic integral.
The question's path space is the whole half-line, not just one finite horizon. When , the density martingale satisfiesIt has a uniformly integrable limit of mean one, strictly positive almost surely. Integrals here converge in and almost surely. The finite-time identities then identify as the density on the full path sigma-algebra, since finite-time cylinder events generate it. This is Cameron-Martin shifts on infinite Wiener path space. Finite-horizon absolute continuity of measures alone does not imply infinite-horizon absolute continuity of measures.