The calculation of expectations for classes of diffusion processes by Lie symmetry methods

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This paper uses Lie symmetry methods to calculate certain expectations for a large class of Itô diffusions. We show that if the problem has sufficient symmetry, then the problem of computing functionals of the form $E_x(e^{-λX_t-\int_0^tg(X_s) ds})$ can be reduced to evaluating a single integral of known functions. Given a drift $f$ we determine the functions $g$ for which the corresponding functional can be calculated by symmetry. Conversely, given $g$, we can determine precisely those drifts $f$ for which the transition density and the functional may be computed by symmetry. Many examples are presented to illustrate the method.
Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-AAP534 the Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org)

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