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The first-passage density of the Brownian motion process to a curved boundary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2016

J. Durbin*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
D. Williams*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
*
Postal address: 31 Southway, London NW11 6RX, UK.
∗∗Postal address: Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1SB, UK.

Abstract

An expression for the first-passage density of Brownian motion to a curved boundary is expanded as a series of multiple integrals. Bounds are given for the error due to truncation of the series when the boundary is wholly concave or wholly convex. Extensions to the Brownian bridge and to continuous Gauss–Markov processes are given. The series provides a practical method for calculating the probability that a sample path crosses the boundary in a specified time-interval to a high degree of accuracy. A numerical example is given.

MSC classification

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Applied Probability Trust 1992 

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Footnotes

This paper was written while the author was visiting the Statistics and Applied Probability Program, University of California, Santa Barbara.

References

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