Probability Surveys Vol. 1 (2004) 1–19 ISSN: 1549-5787 DOI: 10.1214/154957804100000015 Stochastic differential equations with jumps∗,† Richard F. Bass Department of Mathematics, University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 06269-3009 e-mail:
[email protected] Abstract: This paper is a survey of uniqueness results for stochastic dif- ferential equations with jumps and regularity results for the corresponding harmonic functions. Keywords and phrases: stochastic differential equations, jumps, mar- tingale problems, pathwise uniqueness, Harnack inequality, harmonic func- tions, Dirichlet forms. AMS 2000 subject classifications: Primary 60H10; secondary 60H30, 60J75. Received September 2003. 1. Introduction Researchers have increasingly been studying models from economics and from the natural sciences where the underlying randomness contains jumps. To give an example from financial mathematics, the classical model for a stock price is that of a geometric Brownian motion. However, wars, decisions of the Federal Reserve and other central banks, and other news can cause the stock price to make a sudden shift. To model this, one would like to represent the stock price by a process that has jumps. This paper is a survey of some aspects of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) with jumps. As will quickly become apparent, the theory of SDEs with jumps is nowhere near as well developed as the theory of continuous SDEs, and in fact, is still in a relatively primitive stage. In my opinion, the field is both fertile and important. To encourage readers to undertake research in this area, I have mentioned some open problems. arXiv:math/0309246v2 [math.PR] 9 Nov 2005 Section 2 is a description of stochastic integration when there are jumps.