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Zhen-Qing Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Zhen-Qing Chen.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
arXiv2016

Law of large numbers for branching symmetric Hunt processes with measure-valued branching rates

We establish weak and strong law of large numbers for a class of branching symmetric Hunt processes with the branching rate being a smooth measure with respect to the underlying Hunt process, and the branching mechanism being general and state-dependent. Our work is motivated by recent work on strong law of large numbers for branching symmetric Markov processes by Chen-Shiozawa [J. Funct. Anal., 250, 374--399, 2007] and for branching diffusions by Engländer-Harris-Kyprianou [Ann. Inst. Henri Poincaré Probab. Stat., 46, 279--298, 2010]. Our results can be applied to some interesting examples that are covered by neither of these papers.

math.PR↗
arXiv2015

Obliquely reflected Brownian motion in non-smooth planar domains

We construct obliquely reflected Brownian motions in all bounded simply connected planar domains, including non-smooth domains, with general reflection vector fields on the boundary. Conformal mappings and excursion theory are our main technical tools. A key intermediate step, which may be of independent interest, is an alternative characterization of reflected Brownian motions in smooth bounded planar domains with a given field of angles of oblique reflection on the boundary in terms of a pair of quantities, namely an integrable positive harmonic function, which represents the stationary distribution of the process, and a real number that represents, in a suitable sense, the asymptotic rate of rotation of the process around a reference point in the domain. Furthermore, we also show that any obliquely reflected Brownian motion in a simply connected Jordan domain can be obtained as a suitable limit of obliquely reflected Brownian motions in smooth domains.

math.PR↗
arXiv2015

Fluctuation limit for interacting diffusions with partial annihilations through membranes

We study fluctuations of the empirical processes of a non-equilibrium interacting particle system consisting of two species over a domain that is recently introduced in [8] and establish its functional central limit theorem. This fluctuation limit is a distribution-valued Gaussian Markov process which can be represented as a mild solution of a stochastic partial differential equation. The drift of our fluctuation limit involves a new partial differential equation with nonlinear coupled term on the interface that characterized the hydrodynamic limit of the system. The covariance structure of the Gaussian part consists two parts, one involving the spatial motion of the particles inside the domain and other involving a boundary integral term that captures the boundary interactions between two species. The key is to show that the Boltzmann-Gibbs principle holds for our non-equilibrium system. Our proof relies on generalizing the usual correlation functions to the join correlations at two different times.

math.PR↗
arXiv2015

Quenched invariance principles for random walks and elliptic diffusions in random media with boundary

Via a Dirichlet form extension theorem and making full use of two-sided heat kernel estimates, we establish quenched invariance principles for random walks in random environments with a boundary. In particular, we prove that the random walk on a supercritical percolation cluster or among random conductances bounded uniformly from below in a half-space, quarter-space, etc., converges when rescaled diffusively to a reflecting Brownian motion, which has been one of the important open problems in this area. We establish a similar result for the random conductance model in a box, which allows us to improve existing asymptotic estimates for the relevant mixing time. Furthermore, in the uniformly elliptic case, we present quenched invariance principles for domains with more general boundaries.

math.PR↗
arXiv2015

Dirichlet heat kernel estimates for fractional Laplacian under non-local perturbation

For $d\ge 2$ and $0<β<α<2$, consider a family of non-local operators $\mathcal{L}^{b}=Δ^{α/2}+\mathcal{S}^{b}$ on $\mathbb{R}^d$, where $$ \mathcal{S}^{b}f(x):=\lim_{\varepsilon\to 0}\mathcal{A}(d,-β)\int_{ \{z\in \mathbb{R}^d: |z|>\varepsilon\}} (f(x+z)-f(x))\frac{b(x,z)}{|z|^{d+β}}\,dz, $$ and $b(x,z)$ is a bounded measurable function on $\mathbb{R}^{d}\times\mathbb{R}^{d}$ with $b(x,z)=b(x,-z)$ for every $x,z\in\mathbb{R}^{d}$. Here ${\cal A}(d, -β)$ is a normalizing constant so that $\mathcal{S}^b=-(-Δ)^{β/2}$ when $b(x, z)\equiv 1$. It was recently shown in Chen and Wang [arXiv:1312.7594 [math.PR]] that when $b(x, z) \geq -\frac{\mathcal{A}(d, -α)} {\mathcal{A}(d, -β)}\, |z|^{β-α}$, then $\mathcal{L}^b$ admits a unique fundamental solution $p^b(t, x, y)$ which is strictly positive and continuous. The kernel $p^b(t, x, y)$ uniquely determines a conservative Feller process $X^b$, which has strong Feller property. The Feller process $X^b$ is also the unique solution to the martingale problem of $(\mathcal{L}^b, \mathcal{S}(\mathbb{R}^d))$, where $\mathcal{S}(\mathbb{R}^d)$ denotes the space of tempered functions on $\mathbb{R}^d$. In this paper, we are concerned with the subprocess $X^{b,D}$ of $X^{b}$ killed upon leaving a bounded $C^{1,1}$ open set $D\subset \mathbb{R}^d$. We establish explicit sharp two-sided estimates for the transition density function of $X^{b, D}$.

math.PR↗
arXiv2015

Heat kernel estimates for $Δ+Δ^{α/2}$ under gradient perturbation

For $d \ge 2$, $α\in (0,2)$ and $M > 0$, we consider the gradient perturbation of a family of nonlocal operators $\{Δ+a^αΔ^{α/2}, a\in (0,M]\}$. We establish the existence and uniqueness of the fundamental solution $p(t, x, y)$ for \begin{equation*} \mathcal{L}^{a,b} = Δ+a^αΔ^{α/2} + b\cdot \nabla, \end{equation*} where $b$ is in Kato class $\mathbb{K}_{d,1}$ on $\mathbb{R}^d$. We show that $p(t, x, y)$ is jointly continuous and derive its sharp two-sided estimates. The kernel $p(t, x, y)$ determines a conservative Feller process $X$. We further show that the law of $X$ is the unique solution of the martingale problem for $(\mathcal{L}^{a,b}, C^\infty_c (\mathbb{R}^d)$ and $X$ can be represented as $$ X_t = X_0 + Z^a_t + \int_0^t b(X_s) ds, \qquad t\geq 0, $$ where $Z^a_t= B_t +aY_t$ for a Brownian motion $B$ and an independent isotropic $α$-stable process $Y$. Moreover, we prove that the above SDE has a unique weak solution.

math.PR↗
arXiv2015

Strong law of large numbers for supercritical superprocesses under second moment condition

Suppose that $X=\{X_t, t\ge 0\}$ is a supercritical superprocess on a locally compact separable metric space $(E, m)$. Suppose that the spatial motion of $X$ is a Hunt process satisfying certain conditions and that the branching mechanism is of the form $$ ψ(x,λ)=-a(x)λ+b(x)λ^2+\int_{(0,+\infty)}(e^{-λy}-1+λy)n(x,dy), \quad x\in E, \quadλ> 0, $$ where $a\in \mathcal{B}_b(E)$, $b\in \mathcal{B}_b^+(E)$ and $n$ is a kernel from $E$ to $(0,\infty)$ satisfying $$ \sup_{x\in E}\int_0^\infty y^2 n(x,dy)<\infty. $$ Put $T_tf(x)=\mathbb{P}_{δ_x}< f,X_t>$. Let $λ_0>0$ be the largest eigenvalue of the generator $L$ of $T_t$, and $ϕ_0$ and $\hatϕ_0$ be the eigenfunctions of $L$ and $\hat{L}$ (the dural of $L$) respectively associated with $λ_0$. Under some conditions on the spatial motion and the $ϕ_0$-transformed semigroup of $T_t$, we prove that for a large class of suitable functions $f$, we have $$ \lim_{t\rightarrow\infty}e^{-λ_0 t}< f, X_t> = W_\infty\int_E\hatϕ_0(y)f(y)m(dy),\quad \mathbb{P}_μ{-a.s.}, $$ for any finite initial measure $μ$ on $E$ with compact support, where $W_\infty$ is the martingale limit defined by $W_\infty:=\lim_{t\to\infty}e^{-λ_0t}< ϕ_0, X_t>$. Moreover, the exceptional set in the above limit does not depend on the initial measure $μ$ and the function $f$.

math.PR↗
arXiv2015

Stochastic flows for Lévy processes with Hölder drifts

In this paper we study the following stochastic differential equation (SDE) in ${\mathbb R}^d$: $$ \mathrm{d} X_t= \mathrm{d} Z_t + b(t, X_t)\mathrm{d} t, \quad X_0=x, $$ where $Z$ is a Lévy process. We show that for a large class of Lévy processes ${Z}$ and Hölder continuous drift $b$, the SDE above has a unique strong solution for every starting point $x\in{\mathbb R}^d$. Moreover, these strong solutions form a $C^1$-stochastic flow. As a consequence, we show that, when ${Z}$ is an $α$-stable-type Lévy process with $α\in (0, 2)$ and $b$ is bounded and $β$-Hölder continuous with $β\in (1- α/{2},1)$, the SDE above has a unique strong solution. When $α\in (0, 1)$, this in particular solves an open problem from Priola \cite{Pr1}. Moreover, we obtain a Bismut type derivative formula for $\nabla {\mathbb E}_x f(X_t)$ when ${Z}$ is a subordinate Brownian motion. To study the SDE above, we first study the following nonlocal parabolic equation with Hölder continuous $b$ and $f$: $$ \partial_t u+{\mathscr L} u+b\cdot \nabla u+f=0,\quad u(1, \cdot )=0, $$ where $\mathscr L$ is the generator of the Lévy process ${Z}$.

math.PR↗
arXiv2014

Functional central limit theorem for Brownian particles in domains with Robin boundary condition

We rigorously derive non-equilibrium space-time fluctuation for the particle density of a system of reflected diffusions in bounded Lipschitz domains in $\mathbb R^d$. The particles are independent and are killed by a time-dependent potential which is asymptotically proportional to the boundary local time. We generalize the functional analytic framework introduced by Kotelenez [19, 20] to deal with time-dependent perturbations. Our proof relies on Dirichlet form method rather than the machineries derived from Kotelenez's sub-martingale inequality. Our result holds for any symmetric reflected diffusion, for any bounded Lipschitz domain and for any dimension $d\geq 1$.

math.PR↗
arXiv2014

Fractional time stochastic partial differential equations

In this paper, we introduce a class of stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs) with fractional time-derivatives, and study the $L_2$-theory of the equations. This class of SPDEs can be used to describe random effects on transport of particles in medium with thermal memory or particles subject to sticking and trapping.

math.PR↗
arXiv2014

Hydrodynamic Limits and Propagation of Chaos for Interacting Random Walks in Domains

A new non-conservative stochastic reaction-diffusion system in which two families of random walks in two adjacent domains interact near the interface is introduced and studied in this paper. Such a system can be used to model the transport of positive and negative charges in a solar cell or the population dynamics of two segregated species under competition. We show that in the macroscopic limit, the particle densities converge to the solution of a coupled nonlinear heat equations. For this, we first prove that propagation of chaos holds by establishing the uniqueness of a new BBGKY hierarchy. A local central limit theorem for reflected diffusions in bounded Lipschitz domains is also established as a crucial tool.

math.PR↗
arXiv2013

One-dimensional heat equation with discontinuous conductance

We study a second-order parabolic equation with divergence form elliptic operator, having piecewise constant diffusion coefficients with two points of discontinuity. Such partial differential equations appear in the modelization of diffusion phenomena in medium consisting of three kind of materials. Using probabilistic methods, we present an explicit expression of the fundamental solution under certain conditions. We also derive small-time asymptotic expansion of the PDE's solutions in the general case. The obtained results are directly usable in applications.

math.PR↗
arXiv2013

Ergodicity for Time Changed Symmetric Stable Processes

In this paper we study the ergodicity and the related semigroup property for a class of symmetric Markov jump processes associated with time changed symmetric $α$-stable processes. For this purpose, explicit and sharp criteria for Poincaré type inequalities (including Poincaré, super Poincaré and weak Poincaré inequalities) of the corresponding non-local Dirichlet forms are derived. Moreover, our main results, when applied to a class of one-dimensional stochastic differential equations driven by symmetric $α$-stable processes, yield sharp criteria for their various ergodic properties and corresponding functional inequalities.

math.PR↗
arXiv2013

Brownian earthworm

We prove that the distance between two reflected Brownian motions, driven by the same white noise, outside a sphere in a 3-dimensional flat torus does not converge to 0, a.s., if the radius of the sphere is sufficiently small, relative to the size of the torus.

math.PR↗
arXiv2013

Uniqueness of Stable Processes with Drift

Suppose that $d\geq1$ and $α\in (1, 2)$. Let $Y$ be a rotationally symmetric $α$-stable process on $\R^d$ and $b$ a $\R^d$-valued measurable function on $\R^d$ belonging to a certain Kato class of $Y$. We show that $\rd X^b_t=\rd Y_t+b(X^b_t)\rd t$ with $X^b_0=x$ has a unique weak solution for every $x\in \R^d$. Let $\sL^b=-(-Δ)^{α/2} + b \cdot \nabla$, which is the infinitesimal generator of $X^b$. Denote by $C^\infty_c(\R^d)$ the space of smooth functions on $\R^d$ with compact support. We further show that the martingale problem for $(\sL^b, C^\infty_c(\R^d))$ has a unique solution for each initial value $x\in \R^d$.

math.PR↗
arXiv2013

Heat kernels and analyticity of non-symmetric jump diffusion semigroups

Let $d\geq 1$ and $α\in (0, 2)$. Consider the following non-local and non-symmetric Lévy-type operator on $\mR^d$: $$ \sL^κ_αf(x):=\mbox{p.v.}\int_{\mR^d}(f(x+z)-f(x))\frac{κ(x,z)}{|z|^{d+α}} \dif z, $$ where $0<κ_0\leq κ(x,z)\leq κ_1$, $κ(x,z)=κ(x,-z)$, and $|κ(x,z)-κ(y,z)|\leqκ_2|x-y|^β$ for some $β\in(0,1)$. Using Levi's method, we construct the fundamental solution (also called heat kernel) $p^κ_α(t, x, y)$ of $\sL^κ_α$, and establish its sharp two-sided estimates as well as its fractional derivative and gradient estimates of the heat kernel. We also show that $p^κ_α(t, x, y)$ is jointly Hölder continuous in $(t, x)$. The lower bound heat kernel estimate is obtained by using a probabilistic argument. The fundamental solution of $\sL^κ_α$ gives rise a Feller process $\{X, \mP_x, x\in \mR^d\}$ on $\mR^d$. We determine the Lévy system of $X$ and show that $\mP_x$ solves the martingale problem for $(\sL^κ_α, C^2_b(\mR^d))$. Furthermore, we obtain the analyticity of the non-symmetric semigroup associated with $\sL^κ_α$ in $L^p$-spaces for every $p\in[1,\infty)$. A maximum principle for solutions of the parabolic equation $\partial_t u =\sL^κ_αu$ is also established.

math.AP↗
arXiv2013

On Uniform Positivity of Transition Densities of Small Noise Constrained Diffusions

Constrained diffusions in convex polyhedral domains with a general oblique reflection field, and with a diffusion coefficient scaled by a small parameter, are considered. Using an interior Dirichlet heat kernel lower bound estimate for second order elliptic operators in bounded domains from [13], certain uniform in the scaling parameter lower bounds on transition densities of such constrained diffusions are established. These lower bounds together with results from [1] give, under additional stability conditions, an exponential leveling property, as the scaling parameter approaches zero, for exit times from suitable bounded domains.

math.PR↗