Time-Inconsistent Optimal Control Problems and the Equilibrium HJB Equation

A general time-inconsistent optimal control problem is considered for stochastic differential equations with deterministic coefficients. Under suitable conditions, a Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman type equation is derived for the equilibrium value function of the problem. Well-posedness and some properties of such an equation is studied, and time-consistent equilibrium strategies are constructed. As special cases, the linear-quadratic problem and a generalized Merton's portfolio problem are investigated.Comment: 51 page

Forward-Backward Evolution Equations and Applications

Well-posedness is studied for a special system of two-point boundary value problem for evolution equations which is called a forward-backward evolution equation (FBEE, for short). Two approaches are introduced: A decoupling method with some brief discussions, and a method of continuation with some substantial discussions. For the latter, we have introduced Lyapunov operators for FBEEs, whose existence leads to some uniform a priori estimates for the mild solutions of FBEEs, which will be sufficient for the well-posedness. For some special cases, Lyapunov operators are constructed. Also, from some given Lyapunov operators, the corresponding solvable FBEEs are identified.Comment: 52 page

A Deterministic Affine-Quadratic Optimal Control Problem

A Deterministic affine quadratic optimal control problem is considered. Due to the nature of the problem, optimal controls exist under some very mild conditions. Further, it is shown that under some assumptions, the value function is differentiable and therefore satisfies the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation in the classical sense. Moreover, the so-called quasi-Riccati equation is derived and any optimal control admits a state feedback representation.Comment: 30 page

Linear Quadratic Stochastic Differential Games: Open-Loop and Closed-Loop Saddle Points

In this paper, we consider a linear quadratic stochastic two-person zero-sum differential game. The controls for both players are allowed to appear in both drift and diffusion of the state equation. The weighting matrices in the performance functional are not assumed to be definite/non-singular. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a closed-loop saddle point is established in terms of the solvability of a Riccati differential equation with certain regularity. It is possible that the closed-loop saddle point fails to exist, and at the same time, the corresponding Riccati equation admits a solution (which does not have needed regularity). Also, we will indicate that the solution of the Riccati equation may be non-unique.Comment: 28 page