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For an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process $dX=\sigma dB-\lambda Xdt$ under a reference measure, this is a positive supermartingale when $\alpha a\ge {\sigma }^2/2$. Its short rate is $[\alpha a-{\sigma }^2/2+(\lambda +\alpha /2)X^2]/(a+X^2/2)$. Conditional zero-coupon bond prices are ratios of the OU second moments of the quadratic factor. The money-market density has diffusion coefficient $\sigma X/(a+X^2/2)$, bounded by $\sigma /\sqrt{2a}$, so the Novikov condition validates the pricing measure. The reference OU dynamics must not be silently treated as the risk-neutral dynamics.

Reinvest each maturity payment in the next unit-principal zero-coupon bond. Positive bond prices make the resulting self-financing portfolio strictly positive, so it can be used as a numéraire. Its one-step growth is the reciprocal of the current one-period bond price.

For pricing drift ${\mu }_Q$, a unit zero-coupon bond price $P(t,r;T)$ satisfies $P_t+{\mu }_Q{P}_r+{\eta }^2{P}_{rr}/2-rP=0$, with $P(T,r;T)=1$. Itô formula makes its bank-account-discounted value a local martingale; suitable integrability gives $P(t,r;T)={\mathbb{E}}^Q[\exp (-{\int }_t^T{r}_{s}ds)\mid r_t=r]$. The rate kills the diffusion semigroup, as in the Feynman-Kac formula.

In a one-factor short-rate model, a derivative $V(t,r)$ can be hedged locally by a nondegenerate traded zero-coupon bond $P(t,r;T_1)$. Match Brownian exposures by holding $V_r/P_r$ bonds and putting the remaining value into the bank account. Substitution into the two pricing equations proves the gain identity. This requires $\eta P_r\ne 0$; completeness at a degenerate boundary cannot be inferred from the dimension count alone.

The time-$t$ one-period spot interest rate is the rate available for investment from $t$ to $t+1$. For a unit-face-value zero-coupon bond,

A Gaussian short rate model with Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process dynamics under the chosen pricing measure. For $a>0$, its unit zero-coupon bond value is $P(t,T)=A(\tau )e^{-B(\tau )r_t}$, where $\tau =T-t$, $B(\tau )=(1-e^{-a\tau })/a$ andSolve the linear stochastic differential equation, integrate over future time, and use the exponential moment of the resulting Gaussian integral to obtain this price. Its Gaussian law permits negative short rates.

The maturity-indexed curve of interest rates inferred from prices of zero-coupon bonds. Continuously compounded yields $y(t,T)=-\log P(t,T)/(T-t)$ average the instantaneous forward rate over $[t,T]$. Modelling a curve requires both dependence across maturities and consistent evolution through observation time; specifying unrelated one-dimensional rate distributions is insufficient.

The continuously compounded yield of a unit-face zero-coupon bond is the constant rate producing its current discount factor over the remaining maturity. It equals the maturity average of the instantaneous forward rate. Differentiation gives $f(t,T)=R(t,T)+(T-t)R_T(t,T)$, and both rates tend to the short rate as $T\downarrow t$. This definition uses continuous compounding; quoted coupon-bond yields require a different cash-flow equation.