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Mathias Beiglboeck

Publications and source records attributed to Mathias Beiglboeck.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2023

Weak Transport for Non-Convex Costs and Model-independence in a Fixed-Income Market

We consider a model-independent pricing problem in a fixed-income market and show that it leads to a weak optimal transport problem as introduced by Gozlan et al. We use this to characterize the extremal models for the pricing of caplets on the spot rate and to establish a first robust super-replication result that is applicable to fixed-income markets. Notably, the weak transport problem exhibits a cost function which is non-convex and thus not covered by the standard assumptions of the theory. In an independent section, we establish that weak transport problems for general costs can be reduced to equivalent problems that do satisfy the convexity assumption, extending the scope of weak transport theory. This part could be of its own interest independent of our financial application, and is accessible to readers who are not familiar with mathematical finance notations.

math.PR↗
arXiv2023

The most exciting game

Motivated by a problem posed by Aldous, our goal is to find the maximal-entropy win-martingale: In a sports game between two teams, the chance the home team wins is initially $x_0 \in (0,1)$ and finally 0 or 1. As an idealization we take a continuous time interval $[0,1]$ and consider the process $M=(M_t)_{t\in [0,1]}$ giving the probability at time $t$ that the home team wins. This is a martingale which we idealize further to have continuous paths. We consider the problem to find the most random martingale $M$ of this type, where `most random' is interpreted as a maximal entropy criterion. We observe that this max-entropy win-martingale $M$ also minimizes specific relative entropy with respect to Brownian motion in the sense of Gantert and use this to prove that $M$ is characterized by the stochastic differential equation $$ dM_t = \frac{\sin (πM_t )} {π\sqrt {1-t}}\, dB_t.$$ To derive the form of the optimizer we use a scaling argument together with a new first order condition for martingale optimal transport which may be of interest in its own right.

math.PR↗
arXiv2019

Existence, Duality, and Cyclical monotonicity for weak transport costs

The optimal weak transport problem has recently been introduced by Gozlan et.\ al. We provide general existence and duality results for these problems on arbitrary Polish spaces, as well as a necessary and sufficient optimality criterion in the spirit of cyclical monotonicity. As an application we extend the Brenier-Strassen Theorem of Gozlan-Juillet to general probability measures on $R^d$ under minimal assumptions. A driving idea behind our proofs is to consider the set of transport plans with a new (`adapted') topology which seems better suited for the weak transport problem and allows to carry out arguments which are close to the proofs in the classical setup.

math.OC↗
arXiv2017

Geometry of Distribution-Constrained Optimal Stopping Problems

We adapt ideas and concepts developed in optimal transport (and its martingale variant) to give a geometric description of optimal stopping times of Brownian motion subject to the constraint that the distribution of the stopping time is a given probability. The methods work for a large class of cost processes. (At a minimum we need the cost process to be measurable and adapted. Continuity assumptions can be used to guarantee existence of solutions.) We find that for many of the cost processes one can come up with, the solution is given by the first hitting time of a barrier in a suitable phase space. As a by-product we recover classical solutions of the inverse first passage time problem / Shiryaev's problem.

math.PR↗
arXiv2017

The geometry of multi-marginal Skorokhod Embedding

The Skorokhod Embedding Problem (SEP) is one of the classical problems in the study of stochastic processes, with applications in many different fields (cf.~ the surveys \cite{Ob04,Ho11}). Many of these applications have natural multi-marginal extensions leading to the \emph{(optimal) multi-marginal Skorokhod problem} (MSEP). Some of the first papers to consider this problem are \cite{Ho98b, BrHoRo01b, MaYo02}. However, this turns out to be difficult using existing techniques: only recently a complete solution was be obtained in \cite{CoObTo15} establishing an extension of the Root construction, while other instances are only partially answered or remain wide open. In this paper, we extend the theory developed in \cite{BeCoHu14} to the multi-marginal setup which is comparable to the extension of the optimal transport problem to the multi-marginal optimal transport problem. As for the one-marginal case, this viewpoint turns out to be very powerful. In particular, we are able to show that all classical optimal embeddings have natural multi-marginal counterparts. Notably these different constructions are linked through a joint geometric structure and the classical solutions are recovered as particular cases. Moreover, our results also have consequences for the study of the martingale transport problem as well as the peacock problem.

math.PR↗
arXiv2017

Dual attainment for the martingale transport problem

We investigate existence of dual optimizers in one-dimensional martingale optimal transport problems. While [BNT16] established such existence for weak (quasi-sure) duality, [BHP13] showed existence for the natural stronger pointwise duality may fail even in regular cases. We establish that (pointwise) dual maximizers exist when $y\mapsto c(x,y)$ is convex, or equivalent to a convex function. It follows that when marginals are compactly supported, the existence holds when the cost $c(x,y)$ is twice continuously differentiable in $y$. Further, this may not be improved as we give examples with $c(x,\cdot)\in C^{2-ε}$, $ε>0$, where dual attainment fails. Finally, when measures are compactly supported, we show that dual optimizers are Lipschitz if $c$ is Lipschitz.

math.PR↗
arXiv2017

Monotone Martingale Transport Plans and Skorohod Embedding

We show that the left-monotone martingale coupling is optimal for any given performance function satisfying the martingale version of the Spence-Mirrlees condition, without assuming additional structural conditions on the marginals. We also give a new interpretation of the left monotone coupling in terms of Skorokhod embedding which allows us to give a short proof of uniqueness.

math.PR↗
arXiv2016

Shadow couplings

A classical result of Strassen asserts that given probabilities $μ, ν$ on the real line which are in convex order, there exists a \emph{martingale coupling} with these marginals, i.e.\ a random vector $(X_1,X_2)$ such that $X_1\sim μ, X_2\sim ν$ and $E[X_2|X_1]=X_1$. Remarkably, it is a non trivial problem to construct particular solutions to this problem. In this article, we introduce a family of such martingale couplings, each of which admits several characterizations in terms of optimality properties / geometry of the support set / representation through a Skorokhod embedding. As a particular element of this family we recover the (left-) curtain martingale transport, which has recently been studied \cite{BeJu16, HeTo13, CaLaMa14, BeHeTo15} and which can be viewed as a martingale analogue of the classical monotone rearrangement. As another canonical element of this family we identify a martingale coupling that resembles the usual \emph{product coupling} and appears as an optimizer in the general transport problem recently introduced by Gozlan et al. In addition, this coupling provides an explicit example of a Lipschitz-kernel, shedding new light on Kellerer's proof of the existence of Markov martingales with specified marginals.

math.PR↗
arXiv2016

Optimal Transport and Skorokhod Embedding

The Skorokhod embedding problem is to represent a given probability as the distribution of Brownian motion at a chosen stopping time. Over the last 50 years this has become one of the important classical problems in probability theory and a number of authors have constructed solutions with particular optimality properties. These constructions employ a variety of techniques ranging from excursion theory to potential and PDE theory and have been used in many different branches of pure and applied probability. We develop a new approach to Skorokhod embedding based on ideas and concepts from optimal mass transport. In analogy to the celebrated article of Gangbo and McCann on the geometry of optimal transport, we establish a geometric characterization of Skorokhod embeddings with desired optimality properties. This leads to a systematic method to construct optimal embeddings. It allows us, for the first time, to derive all known optimal Skorokhod embeddings as special cases of one unified construction and leads to a variety of new embeddings. While previous constructions typically used particular properties of Brownian motion, our approach applies to all sufficiently regular Markov processes.

math.PR↗
arXiv2014

A Simple Proof of the Bichteler-Dellacherie Theorem

We give a simple and rather elementary proof of the celebrated Bichteler-Dellacherie-Mokobodzki Theorem, which states that a process S is a good integrator if and only if it is a semimartingale. As a corollary, we obtain a characterization of semimartingales along the lines of classical Riemann integrability.

math.PR↗
arXiv2011

Utility Maximization, Risk Aversion, and Stochastic Dominance

Consider an investor trading dynamically to maximize expected utility from terminal wealth. Our aim is to study the dependence between her risk aversion and the distribution of the optimal terminal payoff. Economic intuition suggests that high risk aversion leads to a rather concentrated distribution, whereas lower risk aversion results in a higher average payoff at the expense of a more widespread distribution. Dybvig and Wang [J. Econ. Theory, 2011, to appear] find that this idea can indeed be turned into a rigorous mathematical statement in one-period models. More specifically, they show that lower risk aversion leads to a payoff which is larger in terms of second order stochastic dominance. In the present study, we extend their results to (weakly) complete continuous-time models. We also complement an ad-hoc counterexample of Dybvig and Wang, by showing that these results are "fragile", in the sense that they fail in essentially any model, if the latter is perturbed on a set of arbitrarily small probability. On the other hand, we establish that they hold for power investors in models with (conditionally) independent increments.

q-fin.GN↗
arXiv2010

A short Proof of the Doob-Meyer Theorem

Every submartingale S of class D has a unique Doob-Meyer decomposition S=M+A, where M is a martingale and A is a predictable increasing process starting at 0. We provide a short and elementary prove of the Doob-Meyer decomposition theorem. Several previously known arguments are included to keep the paper self-contained.

math.PR↗
arXiv2010

Duality for rectified Cost Functions

It is well-known that duality in the Monge-Kantorovich transport problem holds true provided that the cost function $c:X\times Y\to [0,\infty]$ is lower semi-continuous or finitely valued, but it may fail otherwise. We present a suitable notion of \emph{rectificaton} $c_r$ of the cost $c$, so that the Monge-Kantorovich duality holds true replacing $c$ by $c_r$. In particular, passing from $c$ to $c_r$ only changes the value of the primal Monge-Kantorovich problem. Finally, the rectified function $c_r $ is lower semi-continuous as soon as $X$ and $Y$ are endowed with proper topologies, thus emphasizing the role of lower semi-continuity in the duality-theory of optimal transport.

math.OC↗
arXiv2010

A General Duality Theorem for the Monge--Kantorovich Transport Problem

The duality theory of the Monge--Kantorovich transport problem is analyzed in a general setting. The spaces $X, Y$ are assumed to be polish and equipped with Borel probability measures $μ$ and $ν$. The transport cost function $c:X\times Y \to [0,\infty]$ is assumed to be Borel. Our main result states that in this setting there is no duality gap, provided the optimal transport problem is formulated in a suitably relaxed way. The relaxed transport problem is defined as the limiting cost of the partial transport of masses $1-\varepsilon$ from $(X,μ)$ to $(Y, ν)$, as $\varepsilon >0$ tends to zero. The classical duality theorems of H.\ Kellerer, where $c$ is lower semi-continuous or uniformly bounded, quickly follow from these general results.

math.OC↗
arXiv2009

An ultrafilter approach to Jin's Theorem

It is well known and not difficult to prove that if $C$ of integers has positive upper Banach density, the set of differences $C-C$ is syndetic, i.e. the length of gaps is uniformly bounded. More surprisingly, Renling Jin showed that whenever $A$ and $B$ have positive upper Banach density, then $A-B$ is piecewise syndetic. Jin's result follows trivially from the first statement provided that $B$ has large intersection with a shifted copy $A-n$ of $A$. Of course this will not happen in general if we consider shifts by integers, but the idea can be put to work if we allow "shifts by ultrafilters". As a consequence we obtain Jin's Theorem.

math.CO↗
arXiv2009

Sumset Phenomenon in Countable Amenable Groups

Jin proved that whenever $A$ and $B$ are sets of positive upper density in $\Z$, $A+B$ is piecewise syndetic. Jin's theorem was subsequently generalized by Jin and Keisler to a certain family of abelian groups, which in particular contains $\Z^d$. Answering a question of Jin and Keisler, we show that this result can be extended to countable amenable groups. Moreover we establish that such sumsets (or -- depending on the notation -- "productsets") are piecewise Bohr, a result which for $G=\Z$ was proved by Bergelson, Furstenberg and Weiss. In the case of an abelian group $G$, we show that a set is piecewise Bohr if and only if it contains a sumset of two sets of positive upper Banach density.

math.DS↗