A Geometric Approach for Bounding Average Stopping Time

Abstract

We propose a geometric approach for bounding average stopping times for stopped random walks in discrete and continuous time. We consider stopping times in the hyperspace of time indexes and stochastic processes. Our techniques relies on exploring geometric properties of continuity or stopping regions. Especially, we make use of the concepts of convex sets and supporting hyperplane. Explicit formulae and efficiently computable bounds are obtained for average stopping times. Our techniques can be applied to bound average stopping times involving random vectors, nonlinear stopping boundary, and constraints of time indexes. Moreover, we establish a stochastic characteristic of convex sets and generalize Jensen's inequality, Wald's equations and Lorden's inequality, which are useful for investigating average stopping times.