Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 24 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a simple predictable process, define its stochastic integral byCommon refinement of the deterministic partitions makes this definition independent of the representation. Each summand is a martingale increment multiplied by information already available at its left endpoint, so the resulting process is a continuous square-integrable martingale starting at zero. Its terminal value is the same sum with replaced by .
Write . If , then is -measurable. By the conditional expectation identity for increments of a martingale,The conditional bracket isometry for stopped martingale increments givesFor completeness, this identity follows by applying the optional stopping theorem to and and expanding the square. The latter process is a true uniformly integrable martingale here: the Doob L2 maximal inequality bounds , stopped square identities and Fatou's lemma give , and its absolute supremum is bounded by . Consequently all the stopped identities pass to the limit.
Multiplying the conditional identity by , taking expectations, and using the vanished cross terms proves the Itô isometry:
To extend the stochastic integral, use the finite quadratic-variation measure on the predictable sigma-algebra. The density of simple predictable processes for finite measures gives approximations to every . The Itô isometry makes the corresponding terminal integrals Cauchy in , and the Doob L2 maximal inequality makes the whole processes Cauchy in expected squared supremum. Their limit defines a continuous martingale, and the isometry persists. For a locally bounded predictable process, choose increasing stopping times tending to infinity on which it is bounded, also restrict the time horizon, and perform this construction after stopping. The isometry shows that the stopped definitions agree on overlaps, so they patch into a uniquely defined continuous local martingale .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 36 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The previsible sigma-algebra on is generated by left-continuous adapted processes. Equivalently it is generated by with and with , . A previsible process is a process measurable for this sigma-algebra; predictable is a synonym.
Use the zero-starting convention for : continuous martingales with and . For such an L2-bounded continuous martingale, the square-integrable stochastic integrand space isIdentify processes that agree almost everywhere for the quadratic-variation measure . This makes the displayed norm an actual Hilbert-space norm on equivalence classes. On a fixed horizon , replace infinity by ; this is the same construction for continuous martingales square-integrable on that horizon. Nonzero initial values may be subtracted because the integral depends only on increments.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 36 2 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The correct quadratic variation of a stochastic integral identity isThe brackets around the final integrator are missing in the PDF. Without them the assertion is false: for and Brownian motion, the left side is while the printed right side is .
For elementary predictable , the integral is obtained by scaling each martingale increment by its known coefficient. Quadratic variation on each interval is therefore scaled by the square of that coefficient, giving the displayed formula. To pass to a general integrand on , take elementary in the integrand norm and put , . The Itô isometry gives , hence . The bracket Cauchy-Schwarz boundand polarization show that uniformly in probability. On the other side, Cauchy-Schwarz for the quadratic-variation measure givesTaking limits proves the formula in the square-integrable case. Stopping and pasting as in part b proves it for locally bounded predictable integrands and continuous local martingales.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 202 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the simple predictable process from part (a), define its stochastic integral byThe time-zero value contributes nothing. Write . If and , then is -measurable and . If , then . Boundedness ensures integrability, so all off-diagonal terms vanish by conditional expectation. ConsequentlyThe quadratic variation theorem says is a local martingale. A bounded continuous martingale is square-integrable, and localization gives the conditional second-moment identityMultiplication by and summation therefore give the Itô isometryFor Brownian motion, . More generally the Itô isometry holds for every predictable process with finite right-hand side, against a continuous square-integrable martingale. Indeed, on a fixed horizon the quadratic-variation measure is finite. Part (c) approximates the integrand by simple predictable processes; the displayed equality makes the elementary integrals Cauchy in and defines their unique limit. The finite sum is exactly the elementary case of the Itô isometry.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 202 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
A simple predictable process has the form , where are deterministic and is bounded and -measurable. A possible -measurable value at zero is irrelevant to this Itô integral. DefineEach coefficient is known before the corresponding increment. The conditional expectation of each subsequent increment is zero, so the result is a continuous martingale starting at zero. It is an L2-bounded continuous martingale because it is a finite sum of bounded coefficients times stopped increments of an L2-bounded continuous martingale. This definition is independent of the chosen subdivision: splitting an interval simply splits its increment into a telescoping sum. General admissible predictable processes are then integrated by completion using the Itô isometry; unbounded step coefficients are allowed when the weighted condition in the quadratic-variation measure in the next part holds.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 202 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Fix a L2-bounded continuous martingale . Its quadratic-variation measure on the predictable sigma-algebra isIt is finite, since . The source Hilbert space is : predictable processes with finite , identified when equal -almost everywhere. Its norm is .
The target consists of L2-bounded continuous martingales starting at zero, identified up to indistinguishability of stochastic processes, with norm . It is a Hilbert space: terminal values belong to the closed linear subspace of whose conditional expectation given is zero and whose associated martingales have continuous versions. Closure of that continuous-version subspace follows from the Doob L2 maximal inequality and an almost surely uniformly convergent subsequence.
The Itô isometry says that integration extends uniquely from simple predictable processes to a linear isometry , withFor every finite , the same identity holds with the integral restricted to and the left side . No claim of surjectivity onto all of is needed: that would require an additional Martingale representation theorem.