Category Archives: Ito Formula

Consider \(I(t)\) defined by \[I(t)=\int_0^t \sigma(s,\omega)dB(s,\omega)\] where \(\sigma\) is adapted and \(|\sigma(t,\omega)| \leq K\) for all \(t\) with probability one. Inspired by   problem “Homogeneous Martingales and Hermite Polynomials”  Let us set
\begin{align*}Y(t,\omega)=I(t)^4 – 6 I(t)^2\langle I \rangle(t) + 3 \langle I \rangle(t)^2 \ .\end{align*}

1. Quote  the problem “Ito Moments” to show that \(\mathbb{E}\{ |Y(t)|^2\} < \infty\) for all \(t\). Then  verify that \(Y_t\) is  a martingale.
2. Show that \[\mathbb{E}\{ I(t)^4 \} \leq 6 \mathbb{E} \big\{ \{I(t)^2\langle I \rangle(t) \big\}\]
3. Recall the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality. In our language it states that
   \begin{align*}
   \mathbb{E} \{AB\} \leq (\mathbb{E}\{A^2\})^{1/2} (\mathbb{E}\{B^2\})^{1/2}
   \end{align*}
   Combine this with the previous inequality to show that\begin{align*}\mathbb{E}\{ I(t)^4 \} \leq 36 \mathbb{E} \big\{\langle I \rangle(t)^2 \big\} \end{align*}
4. We know that  \(I^4\) is a submartingale (because \(x \mapsto x^4\) is convex). Use the Kolmogorov-Doob inequality and all that we have just derived to show that
   \begin{align*}
   \mathbb{P}\left\{ \sup_{0\leq s \leq T}|I(s)|^4 \geq \lambda \right\} \leq ( \text{const}) \frac{ \mathbb{E}\left( \int_0^T \sigma(s,\omega)^2 ds\right)^2 }{\lambda}
   \end{align*}