A new approach to optimal stopping for Hunt processes

Mathematical Methods of Operations Research - MATH METHODS OPER RES, 2001

We study how the convolution approximation of continuous mappings can be applied in solving optimal stopping problems of linear diffusions whenever the underlying payoff is not differentiable and the smooth fit principle does not necessarily apply. We construct a sequence of smooth reward functions converging uniformly on compacts to the original reward and, consequently, we derive a sequence of continuously differentiable (i.e. satisfying the smooth fit principle) value functions converging to the value of the original stopping problem.

arXiv: Probability, 2015

We describe a variational approach to solving optimal stopping problems for diffusion processes, as an alternative to the traditional approach based on the solution of the free-boundary problem. We study smooth pasting conditions from a variational point of view, and give some examples when the solution to free-boundary problem is not the solution to optimal stopping problem. A special attention is paid to threshold strategies which allow reduce optimal stopping problem to more simple one-parametric optimization. Necessary and sufficient conditions for threshold structure of optimal stopping time are derived. We apply these results to both investment timing and optimal abandon models.

arXiv (Cornell University), 2022

We study the problem of optimal stopping of conditional McKean-Vlasov (mean-field) stochastic differential equations with jumps (conditional McKean-Vlasov jump diffusions, for short). We obtain sufficient variational inequalities for a function to be the value function of such a problem and for a stopping time to be optimal. To achieve this, we combine the state equation for the conditional McKean-Vlasov equation with the associated stochastic Fokker-Planck equation for the conditional law of the solution of the state. This gives us a Markovian system which can be handled by using a version of the Dynkin formula. We illustrate our result by solving explicitly two optimal stopping problems for conditional McKean-Vlasov jump diffusions. More specifically, we first find the optimal time to sell in a market with common noise and jumps, and, next, we find the stopping time to quit a project whose state is modelled by a jump diffusion, when the performance functional involves the conditional mean of the state.

2009

Mathematics of Operations Research, 2008

We propose a new solution method for optimal stopping problems with random discounting for linear diffusions whose state space has a combination of natural, absorbing, or reflecting boundaries. The method uses a concave characterization of excessive functions for linear diffusions killed at a rate determined by a Markov additive functional and reduces the original problem to an undiscounted optimal stopping problem for a standard Brownian motion. The latter can be solved essentially by inspection. The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an optimal stopping rule are proved when the reward function is continuous. The results are illustrated on examples.

2021

We study the optimal stopping problem of McKean-Vlasov diffusions when the criterion is a function of the law of the stopped process. A remarkable new feature in this setting is that the stopping time also impacts the dynamics of the stopped process through the dependence of the coefficients on the law. The mean field stopping problem is introduced in weak formulation in terms of the joint marginal law of the stopped underlying process and the survival process. This specification satisfies a dynamic programming principle. The corresponding dynamic programming equation is an obstacle problem on the Wasserstein space, and is obtained by means of a general Itô formula for flows of marginal laws of càdlàg semimartingales. Our verification result characterizes the nature of optimal stopping policies, highlighting the crucial need to randomized stopping. The effectiveness of our dynamic programming equation is illustrated by various examples including the mean-variance and expected shortf...

arXiv: Probability, 2013

We study a problem when a solution to optimal stopping problem for one-dimensional diffusion will generate by threshold strategy. Namely, we give necessary and sufficient conditions under which an optimal stopping time can be specified as the first time when the process exceeds some level (threshold), and a continuation set is a semi-interval. We give also second-order conditions, which allow to discard such solutions to free-boundary problem that are not the solutions to optimal stopping problem.

The Annals of Applied Probability, 2018

We develop a new class of path transformations for one-dimensional diffusions that are tailored to alter their long-run behaviour from transient to recurrent or vice versa. This immediately leads to a formula for the distribution of the first exit times of diffusions, which is recently characterised by Karatzas and Ruf [Probab. Theory Related Fields 164 (2016) 1027-1069] as the minimal solution of an appropriate Cauchy problem under more stringent conditions. A particular limit of these transformations also turn out to be instrumental in characterising the stochastic solutions of Cauchy problems defined by the generators of strict local martingales, which are well known for not having unique solutions even when one restricts solutions to have linear growth. Using an appropriate diffusion transformation, we show that the aforementioned stochastic solution can be written in terms of the unique classical solution of an alternative Cauchy problem with suitable boundary conditions. This in particular resolves the long-standing issue of non-uniqueness with the Black-Scholes equations in derivative pricing in the presence of bubbles. Finally, we use these path transformations to propose a unified framework for solving explicitly the optimal stopping problem for one-dimensional diffusions with discounting, which in particular is relevant for the pricing and the computation of optimal exercise boundaries of perpetual American options.

Cornell University - arXiv, 2022

This paper analyzes the convergence of the finite population optimal stopping problem towards the corresponding mean field limit. Building on the viscosity solution characterization of the mean field optimal stopping problem of our previous papers [51, 52], we prove the convergence of the value functions by adapting the Barles-Souganidis [1] monotone scheme method to our context. We next characterize the optimal stopping policies of the mean field problem by the accumulation points of the finite population optimal stopping strategies. In particular, if the limiting problem has a unique optimal stopping policy, then the finite population optimal stopping strategies do converge towards this solution. As a by-product of our analysis, we provide an extension of the standard propagation of chaos to the context of stopped McKean-Vlasov diffusions.

2010