Rogers functions and fluctuation theory

Extending earlier work by Rogers, Wiener-Hopf factorisation is studied for a class of functions closely related to Nevanlinna-Pick functions and complete Bernstein functions. The name 'Rogers functions' is proposed for this class. Under mild additional condition, for a Rogers function f, the Wiener--Hopf factors of f(z)+q, as well as their ratios, are proved to be complete Bernstein functions in both z and q. This result has a natural interpretation in fluctuation theory of L\'evy processes: for a L\'evy process X_t with completely monotone jumps, under mild additional condition, the Laplace exponents kappa(q;z), kappa*(q;z) of ladder processes are complete Bernstein functions of both z and q. Integral representation for these Wiener--Hopf factors is studied, and a semi-explicit expression for the space-only Laplace transform of the supremum and the infimum of X_t follows.Comment: 70 pages, 2 figure

Random walks are determined by their trace on the positive half-line

We prove that the law of a random walk $X_n$ is determined by the one-dimensional distributions of $\max(X_n, 0)$ for $n = 1, 2, \ldots$, as conjectured recently by Lo\"ic Chaumont and Ron Doney. Equivalently, the law of $X_n$ is determined by its upward space-time Wiener-Hopf factor. Our methods are complex-analytic.Comment: 6 page