Abstracts MonteCarloMethods
Abstracts MonteCarloMethods
Abstracts MonteCarloMethods
Abstracts
Importance sampling algorithms for failure recovery probabilities in computing and data transmission
ASMUSSEN, SREN Aarhus University A task with length T having distribution F may fail before completion and then has to be restarted (multiple restarts may occur). Asymptotics for the tail P(X > x) in the case of a general failure time distribution G has been derived by Asmussen, Fiorini, Lipsky, Rolski & Sheahan (MOR 2008/09) and by Jelenkovic & Tan. In this talk we study the problem of efficient simulation of this tail by importance sampling when G is exponential. The problem is fairly standard when T = t is deterministic and involves exponential tilting via a Cramr type root. For a random T , we study both a light-tailed and a heavy-tailed scenario. In both, the scheme is the standard one, looking for conditional distributions given X > x. In the light-tailed case, the asymptotic distribution of T given X > x is asymptotically a shifted exponentially tilted Gumbel (Fisher-Tippett) distribution. Using this as importance distribution alone is, however, not sufficient to obtain an efficient algorithm, but one has to involve the algorithm using the Cramr root on a set of vanishing probability under the importance distribution. In the heavy-tailed case, the relevant asymptotic distribution of T is a shifted and scaled Pareto. However, this distribution has no mass on an interval of the form [0, a(x)] whereas F does, so the relevant absolutely continuity requirement fails. This is resolved by a supplementary conditioned limited theorem for T given X > x and T < a(x). We also discuss to which extent the multiple root finding in the algorithms can be avoided by inserting an approximation for the Cramr root.
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Importance Sampling for Derivatives Pricing with Sample Path Large Deviations
GUASONI, PAULO Boston University Pricing derivative contracts which deliver large payouts on rare events, or no payoff at all, is challenging even with Monte Carlo methods. Importance sampling can substantially improve simulation performance, but its success requires a change of probability which reduces variance, without increasing the cost of each simulation. Among probabilities obtained by a deterministic change of drift, which entail no computational overhead, Sample Path Large Deviations suggest natural candidates for asymptotic optimality, in terms of solutions to classical variational problems. We investigate the assumptions which justify this approach in the Black-Scholes model and in the Heston stochastic volatility model.
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