Tanaka equation Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
With for and for , the equation starting at zero has uniqueness in law but not pathwise uniqueness. For existence, take a Brownian motion and set ; the Lévy characterization of Brownian motion and associativity of stochastic integration give . Every solution has quadratic variation and hence the Brownian motion law. Both and are solutions driven by the same , since the time spent at zero is zero and away from zero. Using instead would allow the constant solution and invalidate this uniqueness-in-law example.
If is bounded and measurable, then on every finite time intervalhas a weak solution and uniqueness in law. Starting with Wiener measure, the Novikov condition and Girsanov theorem add the drift. Applying the inverse change of measure to any weak solution recovers Wiener measure and identifies its law by the same pathwise density.