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For Brownian motion with generator $\frac{1}{2}\Delta$, its local time is the occupation density normalized by ${\int }_0^{t}h(B_s)ds={\int }_{\mathbb{R}}h(a)L_t^{a}da$ for nonnegative Borel $h$. In the Tanaka formula it satisfies $|B_t-a|=|B_0-a|+{\int }_0^t\mathrm{sgn}(B_s-a)d{B}_s+L_t^a$. The symmetric-window approximation is $(2\epsilon {)}^{-1}{\int }_0^t{1}_{\{|B_s-a|<\epsilon \}}ds$. The factor two is essential. Occupation approximations for Brownian local time give a direct derivation at level zero from smooth approximations and maximal martingale estimates.

For $f(x)=x$, the continuous martingale is $M_t^f=B_t$. Since $B_t$ has the centered normal distribution of variance $t$,For $f(x)=x^2$, the continuous martingale is $B_t^2-t$. The Gaussian fourth moment givesThis verifies both cases. The time integral in the printed identity is understood with its omitted $ds$.

Write $M^{(n)}=M^{f_n}$. The derivatives of the approximations areThus $|g_n|\le 1$. The Itô formula gives $M_t^{(n)}={\int }_0^t{g}_n(B_s)d{B}_s$. This use of the formula is valid despite the two second-derivative discontinuities: mollify the $C^1$ function $f_n$, whose derivative is Lipschitz. Its smooth derivatives converge boundedly, while the second derivatives are bounded by $n$ and converge except at $\pm 1/n$. For every $s>0$, the normal distribution of $B_s$ assigns those points zero probability. Dominated convergence for the drift integral and the Itô isometry for the stochastic integral pass the smooth formula to $f_n$. Equivalently, this identifies the martingale in the assumed decomposition and permits its cross-covariances to be calculated.

If $m\ge n$, then $|g_m-g_n|\le 1_{\{|x|<1/n\}}$. The Itô isometry and Doob L2 maximal inequality therefore give, for every fixed $T$,The Gaussian density is bounded by $(2\pi s{)}^{-1/2}$, soConsequently the processes are Cauchy in the complete space of continuous random paths with norm $(\mathbb{E}{\sup }_{s\le T}|Z_s{|}^2{)}^{1/2}$. They have a continuous-path limit $M$ there. Limits obtained for different integer horizons agree on overlaps; choose these versions consistently. Each $M_t$ is adapted, and passing to the $L^2$ limit in $\mathbb{E}[M_t^{(n)}\mid {\mathcal{F}}_s]=M_s^{(n)}$ shows that $M$ is a continuous martingale. Letting $m\to \infty$ in the preceding bound proves the requested convergence, with an explicit rate:The same Itô isometry identifies $M_t={\int }_0^t\mathrm{sgn}(B_s)d{B}_s$, with $\mathrm{sgn}(0)=0$.

There is a genuine factor-of-two error in the last printed conclusion. The stated $f_n$ has second derivative $n{1}_{\{|x|<1/n\}}$ almost everywhere, and the generator in the decomposition is one half of the second derivative. Hence the exact identity isBecause ${\sup }_x|f_n(x)-|x||\le 1/(2n)$ and $f_n(0)=1/(2n)$, this already proves uniform $L^2$ convergence on bounded intervals to $L_t=|B_t|-M_t$. It does not by itself prove almost-sure convergence of the full sequence, so we supply that additional step.

Take $n_k=k^2$. For each fixed integer $T$ and each $\epsilon >0$, the maximal-error bound and Markov's inequality implyThe first Borel-Cantelli lemma, applied to rational positive $\epsilon$ and integer $T$, gives uniform almost-sure convergence of this subsequence on every bounded interval. Therefore $L_{k^2}\to L$ uniformly there almost surely.

For $k^2\le n\le (k+1{)}^2$, the indicator windows are nested. The ratio-one interpolation for shrinking-window occupation integrals givesBoth ratios tend uniformly to one as $k\to \infty$. The two bounds converge uniformly to the continuous nonnegative process $L$, so the entire sequence does too. Thus the correct normalized conclusion isand with the factor actually printed in the question the limit isThese are the occupation approximations for Brownian local time. In the Tanaka formula convention, $L_t$ is the local time of a semimartingale at zero. It is not identically zero: $\mathbb{E}{L}_t=\mathbb{E}|B_t|=\sqrt{2t/\pi }>0$ for $t>0$, since $M$ starts at zero and is a martingale. Thus the discrepancy cannot be removed by treating the two limits as equal. The standard normalization is also given in Lalley's notes on the Itô calculus and local time.