Closed forms for European options in a local volatility model

Abstract

Because of its very general formulation, the local volatility model does not have an analytical solution for European options. In this article, we present a new methodology to derive closed form solutions for the price of any European options. The formula results from an asymptotic expansion, terms of which are Black-Scholes price and related Greeks. The accuracy of the formula depends on the payoff smoothness and it converges with very few terms.