Application of the Kelly Criterion to Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Processes

In this paper, we study the Kelly criterion in the continuous time framework building on the work of E.O. Thorp and others. The existence of an optimal strategy is proven in a general setting and the corresponding optimal wealth process is found. A simple formula is provided for calculating the optimal portfolio for a set of price processes satisfying some simple conditions. Properties of the optimal investment strategy for assets governed by multiple Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes are studied. The paper ends with a short discussion of the implications of these ideas for financial markets.Comment: presented at Complex'2009 (Shanghai, Feb. 23-25

Consumption processes and positively homogeneous projection properties

We constructively prove the existence of time-discrete consumption processes for stochastic money accounts that fulfill a pre-specified positively homogeneous projection property (PHPP) and let the account always be positive and exactly zero at the end. One possible example is consumption rates forming a martingale under the above restrictions. For finite spaces, it is shown that any strictly positive consumption strategy with restrictions as above possesses at least one corresponding PHPP and could be constructed from it. We also consider numeric examples under time-discrete and -continuous account processes, cases with infinite time horizons and applications to income drawdown and bonus theory.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figure

Optimal consumption and investment with bounded downside risk for power utility functions

We investigate optimal consumption and investment problems for a Black-Scholes market under uniform restrictions on Value-at-Risk and Expected Shortfall. We formulate various utility maximization problems, which can be solved explicitly. We compare the optimal solutions in form of optimal value, optimal control and optimal wealth to analogous problems under additional uniform risk bounds. Our proofs are partly based on solutions to Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations, and we prove a corresponding verification theorem. This work was supported by the European Science Foundation through the AMaMeF programme.Comment: 36 page

Non-equilibrium Statistical Mechanics of Anharmonic Crystals with Self-consistent Stochastic Reservoirs

We consider a d-dimensional crystal with an arbitrary harmonic interaction and an anharmonic on-site potential, with stochastic Langevin heat bath at each site. We develop an integral formalism for the correlation functions that is suitable for the study of their relaxation (time decay) as well as their behavior in space. Furthermore, in a perturbative analysis, for the one-dimensional system with weak coupling between the sites and small quartic anharmonicity, we investigate the steady state and show that the Fourier's law holds. We also obtain an expression for the thermal conductivity (for arbitrary next-neighbor interactions) and give the temperature profile in the steady state

A Note on the Smoluchowski-Kramers Approximation for the Langevin Equation with Reflection

According to the Smoluchowski-Kramers approximation, the solution of the equation ${\mu}\ddot{q}^{\mu}_t=b(q^{\mu}_t)-\dot{q}^{\mu}_t+{\Sigma}(q^{\mu}_t)\dot{W}_t, q^{\mu}_0=q, \dot{q}^{\mu}_0=p$ converges to the solution of the equation $\dot{q}_t=b(q_t)+{\Sigma}(q_t)\dot{W}_t, q_0=q$ as {\mu}->0. We consider here a similar result for the Langevin process with elastic reflection on the boundary.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Models of Passive and Reactive Tracer Motion: an Application of Ito Calculus

By means of Ito calculus it is possible to find, in a straight-forward way, the analytical solution to some equations related to the passive tracer transport problem in a velocity field that obeys the multidimensional Burgers equation and to a simple model of reactive tracer motion.Comment: revised version 7 pages, Latex, to appear as a letter to J. of Physics

First-passage theory of exciton population loss in single-walled carbon nanotubes reveals micron-scale intrinsic diffusion lengths

One-dimensional crystals have long range translational invariance which manifests as long exciton diffusion lengths, but such intrinsic properties are often obscured by environmental perturbations. We use a first-passage approach to model single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) exciton dynamics (including exciton-exciton annihilation and end effects) and compare it to results from both continuous-wave and multi-pulse ultrafast excitation experiments to extract intrinsic SWCNT properties. Excitons in suspended SWCNTs experience macroscopic diffusion lengths, on the order of the SWCNT length, (1.3-4.7 um) in sharp contrast to encapsulated samples. For these pristine samples, our model reveals intrinsic lifetimes (350-750 ps), diffusion constants (130-350 cm^2/s), and absorption cross-sections (2.1-3.6 X 10^-17 cm^2/atom) among the highest previously reported.and diffusion lengths for SWCNTs.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Motion in a Random Force Field

We consider the motion of a particle in a random isotropic force field. Assuming that the force field arises from a Poisson field in $\mathbb{R}^d$, $d \geq 4$, and the initial velocity of the particle is sufficiently large, we describe the asymptotic behavior of the particle

Diffusions with rank-based characteristics and values in the nonnegative quadrant

We construct diffusions with values in the nonnegative orthant, normal reflection along each of the axes, and two pairs of local drift/variance characteristics assigned according to rank; one of the variances is allowed to vanish, but not both. The construction involves solving a system of coupled Skorokhod reflection equations, then "unfolding" the Skorokhod reflection of a suitable semimartingale in the manner of Prokaj (Statist. Probab. Lett. 79 (2009) 534-536). Questions of pathwise uniqueness and strength are also addressed, for systems of stochastic differential equations with reflection that realize these diffusions. When the variance of the laggard is at least as large as that of the leader, it is shown that the corner of the quadrant is never visited

Normal forms approach to diffusion near hyperbolic equilibria

We consider the exit problem for small white noise perturbation of a smooth dynamical system on the plane in the neighborhood of a hyperbolic critical point. We show that if the distribution of the initial condition has a scaling limit then the exit distribution and exit time also have a joint scaling limit as the noise intensity goes to zero. The limiting law is computed explicitly. The result completes the theory of noisy heteroclinic networks in two dimensions. The analysis is based on normal forms theory.Comment: 21 page