arXiv subjects

Yu-Jui Huang

Publications and source records attributed to Yu-Jui Huang.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Asymptotic Optimality in Byzantine Distributed Quickest Change Detection

The Byzantine distributed quickest change detection (BDQCD) is studied, where a fusion center monitors the occurrence of an abrupt event through a bunch of distributed sensors that may be compromised. We first consider the binary hypothesis case where there is only one post-change hypothesis and prove a novel converse to the first-order asymptotic detection delay in the large mean time to a false alarm regime. This converse is tight in that it coincides with the currently best achievability shown by Fellouris et al.; hence, the optimal asymptotic performance of binary BDQCD is characterized. An important implication of this result is that, even with compromised sensors, a 1-bit link between each sensor and the fusion center suffices to achieve asymptotic optimality. To accommodate multiple post-change hypotheses, we then formulate the multi-hypothesis BDQCD problem and again investigate the optimal first-order performance under different bandwidth constraints. A converse is first obtained by extending our converse from binary to multi-hypothesis BDQCD. Two families of stopping rules, namely the simultaneous $d$-th alarm and the multi-shot $d$-th alarm, are then proposed. Under sufficient link bandwidth, the simultaneous $d$-th alarm, with $d$ being set to the number of honest sensors, can achieve the asymptotic performance that coincides with the derived converse bound; hence, the asymptotically optimal performance of multi-hypothesis BDQCD is again characterized. Moreover, although being shown to be asymptotically optimal only for some special cases, the multi-shot $d$-th alarm is much more bandwidth-efficient and energy-efficient than the simultaneous $d$-th alarm. Built upon the above success in characterizing the asymptotic optimality of the BDQCD, a corresponding leader-follower Stackelberg game is formulated and its solution is found.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2019

Strong and Weak Equilibria for Time-Inconsistent Stochastic Control in Continuous Time

A new definition of continuous-time equilibrium controls is introduced. As opposed to the standard definition, which involves a derivative-type operation, the new definition parallels how a discrete-time equilibrium is defined, and allows for unambiguous economic interpretation. The terms "strong equilibria" and "weak equilibria" are coined for controls under the new and the standard definitions, respectively. When the state process is a time-homogeneous continuous-time Markov chain, a careful asymptotic analysis gives complete characterizations of weak and strong equilibria. Thanks to Kakutani-Fan's fixed-point theorem, general existence of weak and strong equilibria is also established, under additional compactness assumption. Our theoretic results are applied to a two-state model under non-exponential discounting. In particular, we demonstrate explicitly that there can be incentive to deviate from a weak equilibrium, which justifies the need for strong equilibria. Our analysis also provides new results for the existence and characterization of discrete-time equilibria under infinite horizon.

math.OC↗

arXiv2019

General Stopping Behaviors of Naive and Non-Committed Sophisticated Agents, with Application to Probability Distortion

We consider the problem of stopping a diffusion process with a payoff functional that renders the problem time-inconsistent. We study stopping decisions of naive agents who reoptimize continuously in time, as well as equilibrium strategies of sophisticated agents who anticipate but lack control over their future selves' behaviors. When the state process is one dimensional and the payoff functional satisfies some regularity conditions, we prove that any equilibrium can be obtained as a fixed point of an operator. This operator represents strategic reasoning that takes the future selves' behaviors into account. We then apply the general results to the case when the agents distort probability and the diffusion process is a geometric Brownian motion. The problem is inherently time-inconsistent as the level of distortion of a same event changes over time. We show how the strategic reasoning may turn a naive agent into a sophisticated one. Moreover, we derive stopping strategies of the two types of agent for various parameter specifications of the problem, illustrating rich behaviors beyond the extreme ones such as "never-stopping" or "never-starting".

q-fin.MF↗

arXiv2019

Consumption, Investment, and Healthcare with Aging

This paper solves the problem of optimal dynamic consumption, investment, and healthcare spending with isoelastic utility, when natural mortality grows exponentially to reflect Gompertz' law and investment opportunities are constant. Healthcare slows the natural growth of mortality, indirectly increasing utility from consumption through longer lifetimes. Optimal consumption and healthcare imply an endogenous mortality law that is asymptotically exponential in the old-age limit, with lower growth rate than natural mortality. Healthcare spending steadily increases with age, both in absolute terms and relative to total spending. The optimal stochastic control problem reduces to a nonlinear ordinary differential equation with a unique solution, which has an explicit expression in the old-age limit. The main results are obtained through a novel version of Perron's method.

q-fin.MF↗

arXiv2018

The Optimal Equilibrium for Time-Inconsistent Stopping Problems -- the Discrete-Time Case

We study an infinite-horizon discrete-time optimal stopping problem under non-exponential discounting. A new method, which we call the iterative approach, is developed to find subgame perfect Nash equilibria. When the discount function induces decreasing impatience, we establish the existence of an equilibrium through fixed-point iterations. Moreover, we show that there exists a unique optimal equilibrium, which generates larger value than any other equilibrium does at all times. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a dominating subgame perfect Nash equilibrium is shown to exist in the literature of time-inconsistency.

math.OC↗

arXiv2018

Optimal Consumption in the Stochastic Ramsey Problem without Boundedness Constraints

This paper investigates optimal consumption in the stochastic Ramsey problem with the Cobb-Douglas production function. Contrary to prior studies, we allow for general consumption processes, without any a priori boundedness constraint. A non-standard stochastic differential equation, with neither Lipschitz continuity nor linear growth, specifies the dynamics of the controlled state process. A mixture of probabilistic arguments are used to construct the state process, and establish its non-explosiveness and strict positivity. This leads to the optimality of a feedback consumption process, defined in terms of the value function and the state process. Based on additional viscosity solutions techniques, we characterize the value function as the unique classical solution to a nonlinear elliptic equation, among an appropriate class of functions. This characterization involves a condition on the limiting behavior of the value function at the origin, which is the key to dealing with unbounded consumptions. Finally, relaxing the boundedness constraint is shown to increase, strictly, the expected utility at all wealth levels.

math.OC↗

arXiv2018

Optimal Equilibria for Time-Inconsistent Stopping Problems in Continuous Time

For an infinite-horizon continuous-time optimal stopping problem under non-exponential discounting, we look for an optimal equilibrium, which generates larger values than any other equilibrium does on the entire state space. When the discount function is log sub-additive and the state process is one-dimensional, an optimal equilibrium is constructed in a specific form, under appropriate regularity and integrability conditions. While there may exist other optimal equilibria, we show that they can differ from the constructed one in very limited ways. This leads to a sufficient condition for the uniqueness of optimal equilibria, up to some closedness condition. To illustrate our theoretic results, comprehensive analysis is carried out for three specific stopping problems, concerning asset liquidation and real options valuation. For each one of them, an optimal equilibrium is characterized through an explicit formula.

math.OC↗

arXiv2017

Time-consistent stopping under decreasing impatience

Under non-exponential discounting, we develop a dynamic theory for stopping problems in continuous time. Our framework covers discount functions that induce decreasing impatience. Due to the inherent time inconsistency, we look for equilibrium stopping policies, formulated as fixed points of an operator. Under appropriate conditions, fixed-point iterations converge to equilibrium stopping policies. This iterative approach corresponds to the hierarchy of strategic reasoning in Game Theory, and provides "agent-specific" results: it assigns one specific equilibrium stopping policy to each agent according to her initial behavior. In particular, it leads to a precise mathematical connection between the naive behavior and the sophisticated one. Our theory is illustrated in a real options model.

math.OC↗

arXiv2017

The Stochastic Solution to a Cauchy Problem for Degenerate Parabolic Equations

We study the stochastic solution to a Cauchy problem for a degenerate parabolic equation arising from option pricing. When the diffusion coefficient of the underlying price process is locally Hölder continuous with exponent $δ\in (0, 1]$, the stochastic solution, which represents the price of a European option, is shown to be a classical solution to the Cauchy problem. This improves the standard requirement $δ\ge 1/2$. Uniqueness results, including a Feynman-Kac formula and a comparison theorem, are established without assuming the usual linear growth condition on the diffusion coefficient. When the stochastic solution is not smooth, it is characterized as the limit of an approximating smooth stochastic solutions. In deriving the main results, we discover a new, probabilistic proof of Kotani's criterion for martingality of a one-dimensional diffusion in natural scale.

math.PR↗

arXiv2015

Model-independent Superhedging under Portfolio Constraints

In a discrete-time market, we study model-independent superhedging, while the semi-static superhedging portfolio consists of {\it three} parts: static positions in liquidly traded vanilla calls, static positions in other tradable, yet possibly less liquid, exotic options, and a dynamic trading strategy in risky assets under certain constraints. By considering the limit order book of each tradable exotic option and employing the Monge-Kantorovich theory of optimal transport, we establish a general superhedging duality, which admits a natural connection to convex risk measures. With the aid of this duality, we derive a model-independent version of the fundamental theorem of asset pricing. The notion "finite optimal arbitrage profit", weaker than no-arbitrage, is also introduced. It is worth noting that our method covers a large class of Delta constraints as well as Gamma constraint.

q-fin.PR↗

arXiv2015

On hedging American options under model uncertainty

We consider as given a discrete time financial market with a risky asset and options written on that asset and determine both the sub- and super-hedging prices of an American option in the model independent framework of ArXiv:1305.6008. We obtain the duality of results for the sub- and super-hedging prices. For the sub-hedging prices we discuss whether the sup and inf in the dual representation can be exchanged (a counter example shows that this is not true in general). For the super-hedging prices we discuss several alternative definitions and argue why our choice is more reasonable. Then assuming that the path space is compact, we construct a discretization of the path space and demonstrate the convergence of the hedging prices at the optimal rate. The latter result would be useful for numerical computation of the hedging prices. Our results generalize those of ArXiv:1304.3574 to the case when static positions in (finitely many) European options can be used in the hedging portfolio.

math.PR↗

arXiv2013

Robust maximization of asymptotic growth under covariance uncertainty

This paper resolves a question proposed in Kardaras and Robertson [Ann. Appl. Probab. 22 (2012) 1576-1610]: how to invest in a robust growth-optimal way in a market where precise knowledge of the covariance structure of the underlying assets is unavailable. Among an appropriate class of admissible covariance structures, we characterize the optimal trading strategy in terms of a generalized version of the principal eigenvalue of a fully nonlinear elliptic operator and its associated eigenfunction, by slightly restricting the collection of nondominated probability measures.

q-fin.PM↗

arXiv2013

On the Multi-Dimensional Controller and Stopper Games

We consider a zero-sum stochastic differential controller-and-stopper game in which the state process is a controlled diffusion evolving in a multi-dimensional Euclidean space. In this game, the controller affects both the drift and the volatility terms of the state process. Under appropriate conditions, we show that the game has a value and the value function is the unique viscosity solution to an obstacle problem for a Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation.

math.OC↗

arXiv2012

Outperforming the market portfolio with a given probability

Our goal is to resolve a problem proposed by Fernholz and Karatzas [On optimal arbitrage (2008) Columbia Univ.]: to characterize the minimum amount of initial capital with which an investor can beat the market portfolio with a certain probability, as a function of the market configuration and time to maturity. We show that this value function is the smallest nonnegative viscosity supersolution of a nonlinear PDE. As in Fernholz and Karatzas [On optimal arbitrage (2008) Columbia Univ.], we do not assume the existence of an equivalent local martingale measure, but merely the existence of a local martingale deflator.

q-fin.CP↗