Early investigation of Pólya urns considered drawing balls one at a time. In the last two decades, several authors have considered multiple drawing in each step, but mostly for schemes involving two colors. In this manuscript, we consider multiple drawing from urns of balls of multiple colors, formulating asymptotic theory for specific urn classes and addressing more applications. The class we consider is affine and tenable, built around a ‘core’ square matrix. We examine cases where the urn is irreducible and demonstrate its relationship to matrix irreducibility for its core matrix, with examples provided. An index for the drawing schema is derived from the eigenvalues of the core. We identify three regimes: small, critical, and large index. In the small-index regime, we find an asymptotic Gaussian law. In the critical-index regime, we also find an asymptotic Gaussian law, albeit with a difference in the scale factor, which involves logarithmic terms. In both of these regimes, we have explicit forms for the structure of the mean and the covariance matrix of the composition vector (both exact and asymptotic). In all three regimes we have strong laws.

Empirical studies (e.g. Jiang et al. (2015) and Mislove et al. (2007)) show that online social networks have not only in- and out-degree distributions with Pareto-like tails, but also a high proportion of reciprocal edges. A classical directed preferential attachment (PA) model generates in- and out-degree distributions with power-law tails, but the theoretical properties of the reciprocity feature in this model have not yet been studied. We derive asymptotic results on the number of reciprocal edges between two fixed nodes, as well as the proportion of reciprocal edges in the entire PA network. We see that with certain choices of parameters, the proportion of reciprocal edges in a directed PA network is close to 0, which differs from the empirical observation. This points out one potential problem of fitting a classical PA model to a given network dataset with high reciprocity, and indicates that alternative models need to be considered.

This paper discusses a general class of replicator–mutator equations on a multidimensional fitness space. We establish a novel probabilistic representation of weak solutions of the equation by using the theory of Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov (FPK) equations and a martingale extraction approach. We provide examples with closed-form probabilistic solutions for different fitness functions considered in the existing literature. We also construct a particle system and prove a general convergence result to the unique solution of the FPK equation associated with the extended replicator–mutator equation with respect to a Wasserstein-like metric adapted to our probabilistic framework.

We investigate various variable martingale Hardy spaces corresponding to variable Lebesgue spaces $\mathcal {L}_{p(\cdot )}$ defined by rearrangement functions. In particular, we show that the dual of martingale variable Hardy space $\mathcal {H}_{p(\cdot )}^{s}$ with $0<p_{-}\leq p_{+}\leq 1$ can be described as a BMO-type space and establish martingale inequalities among these martingale Hardy spaces. Furthermore, we give an application of martingale inequalities in stochastic integral with Brownian motion.

We prove an extension of Pisier’s inequality (1986) with a dimension-independent constant for vector-valued functions whose target spaces satisfy a relaxation of the UMD property.

In this paper, we investigate noncommutative symmetric and asymmetric maximal inequalities associated with martingale transforms and fractional integrals. Our proofs depend on some recent advances on algebraic atomic decomposition and the noncommutative Gundy decomposition. We also prove several fractional maximal inequalities.

We introduce variance-optimal semi-static hedging strategies for a given contingent claim. To obtain a tractable formula for the expected squared hedging error and the optimal hedging strategy we use a Fourier approach in a multidimensional factor model. We apply the theory to set up a variance-optimal semi-static hedging strategy for a variance swap in the Heston model, which is affine, in the 3/2 model, which is not, and in a market model including jumps.

We study a risk process with dividend barrier b where the claims arrive according to a Markovian additive process (MAP). For spectrally negative MAPs, we present linear equations for the expected discounted dividends and the expected discounted penalty function. We apply results for the first exit times of spectrally negative Lévy processes and change-of-measure techniques. Explicit expressions are given when there are positive and negative claims, with phase-type distribution.

The generalized Beurling–Ahlfors operator $S$ on ${{L}^{p}}({{\mathbb{R}}^{n}};\,\Lambda )$, where $\Lambda \,:=\,\Lambda ({{\mathbb{R}}^{n}})$ is the exterior algebra with its natural Hilbert space norm, satisfies the estimate

$$||S||L\left( {{L}^{p}}\left( {{\mathbb{R}}^{n}};\Lambda \right) \right)\le \left( n/2+1 \right)\left( {{p}^{*}}-1 \right),\,\,\,{{p}^{*}}:=\,\max \{p,\,{{p}^{'}}\}.$$

This improves on earlier results in all dimensions $n\,\ge \,3$. The proof is based on the heat extension and relies at the bottom on Burkholder's sharp inequality for martingale transforms.

In this paper we study a generalized Pólya urn with balls of two colors and a random triangular replacement matrix. We extend some results of Janson (2004), (2005) to the case where the largest eigenvalue of the mean of the replacement matrix is not in the dominant class. Using some useful martingales and the embedding method introduced in Athreya and Karlin (1968), we describe the asymptotic composition of the urn after the nth draw, for large n.

This paper addresses Paris barrier options, as introduced by G. Kentwell and J. Cornwall at Bankers Trust Australia in the mid-1990s, and their valuation, as developed by Chesnay, Jeanblanc-Picqué and Yor using the Laplace-transform approach. The notion of Paris barrier options is extended so that their valuation becomes possible at any point during their lifespan, and the pertinent Laplace transforms of Chesnay, Jeanblanc-Picqué and Yor are modified when necessary.

We shall study some connection between averaging operators and martingale inequalities in rearrangement invariant function spaces. In Section 2 the equivalence between Shimogaki’s theorem and some martingale inequalities will be established, and in Section 3 the equivalence between Boyd’s theorem and martingale inequalities with change of probability measure will be established.

We study boundedness properties of the $q$-mean-square operator {{S}^{(q)}} on $E$-valued analytic martingales, where $E$ is a complex quasi-Banach space and $2\,\le \,q\,<\,\infty $. We establish that a.s. finiteness of ${{S}^{(q)}}$ for every bounded $E$-valued analytic martingale implies strong $(p,\,p)$-type estimates for ${{S}^{(q)}}$ and all $p\,\in \,(0,\,\infty )$. Our results yield new characterizations (in terms of analytic and stochastic properties of the function ${{S}^{(q)}}$) of the complex spaces $E$ that admit an equivalent $q$-uniformly $\text{PL}$-convex quasi-norm. We also obtain a vector-valued extension (and a characterization) of part of an observation due to Bourgain and Davis concerning the ${{L}^{p}}$-boundedness of the usual square-function on scalar-valued analytic martingales.

In this paper we study a new kind of option, called hereinafter a Parisian barrier option. This option is the following variant of the so-called barrier option: a down-and-out barrier option becomes worthless as soon as a barrier is reached, whereas a down-and-out Parisian barrier option is lost by the owner if the underlying asset reaches a prespecified level and remains constantly below this level for a time interval longer than a fixed number, called the window. Properties of durations of Brownian excursions play an essential role. We also study another kind of option, called here a cumulative Parisian option, which becomes worthless if the total time spent below a certain level is too long.

In a coverage problem introduced by Dvoretzky (1956) the circle is covered with lengths The associated indexed martingale can be considered as a set of random densities with respect to Lebesgue measure, of which the limit is a random measure. The total masses of the set constitute a new martingale. From a theorem of Shepp (1972), this martingale does not converge in a space if . If 0 < α < 1 it converges in all spaces , and in this paper we demonstrate that it converges in all spaces Lp for p > 2. We also obtain quite precise estimates for the moments of the total mass of the limit measure, showing that the characteristic function of this total mass is an entire function of order 1/(1 − α). Thus in some sense the mass is distributed in a bounded domain.

We construct a risk process, where the law of the next jump time or jump size can depend on the past through earlier jump times and jump sizes. Some distributional properties of this process are established. The compensator is found and some martingale properties are discussed.