We are interested in the law of the first passage time of an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process to time-varying thresholds. We show that this problem is connected to the laws of the first passage time of the process to members of a two-parameter family of functional transformations of a time-varying boundary. For specific values of the parameters, these transformations appear in a realisation of a standard Ornstein–Uhlenbeck bridge. We provide three different proofs of this connection. The first is based on a similar result for Brownian motion, the second uses a generalisation of the so-called Gauss–Markov processes, and the third relies on the Lie group symmetry method. We investigate the properties of these transformations and study the algebraic and analytical properties of an involution operator which is used in constructing them. We also show that these transformations map the space of solutions of Sturm–Liouville equations into the space of solutions of the associated nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Lastly, we interpret our results through the method of images and give new examples of curves with explicit first passage time densities.

We analyse an additive-increase and multiplicative-decrease (also known as growth–collapse) process that grows linearly in time and that, at Poisson epochs, experiences downward jumps that are (deterministically) proportional to its present position. For this process, and also for its reflected versions, we consider one- and two-sided exit problems that concern the identification of the laws of exit times from fixed intervals and half-lines. All proofs are based on a unified first-step analysis approach at the first jump epoch, which allows us to give explicit, yet involved, formulas for their Laplace transforms. All eight Laplace transforms can be described in terms of two so-called scale functions associated with the upward one-sided exit time and with the upward two-sided exit time. All other Laplace transforms can be obtained from the above scale functions by taking limits, derivatives, integrals, and combinations of these.

We derive closed-form solutions to some discounted optimal stopping problems related to the perpetual American cancellable dividend-paying put and call option pricing problems in an extension of the Black–Merton–Scholes model. The cancellation times are assumed to occur when the underlying risky asset price process hits some unobservable random thresholds. The optimal stopping times are shown to be the first times at which the asset price reaches stochastic boundaries depending on the current values of its running maximum and minimum processes. The proof is based on the reduction of the original optimal stopping problems to the associated free-boundary problems and the solution of the latter problems by means of the smooth-fit and modified normal-reflection conditions. We show that the optimal stopping boundaries are characterised as the maximal and minimal solutions of certain first-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations.

Using the Girsanov transformation we derive estimates for the accuracy of piecewise approximations for one-sided and two-sided boundary crossing probabilities. We demonstrate that piecewise linear approximations can be calculated using repeated numerical integration. As an illustrative example we consider the case of one-sided and two-sided square-root boundaries for which we also present analytical representations in a form of infinite power series.

This paper considers a body whose funds accumulate according to a Wiener Process that has parameters which can be controlled at any stage. The process is bounded above by a level at which dividends (or savings) are set aside, and it is bounded below by a level at which a ‘rescue’ policy is invoked to avoid insolvency. Taking long-term dividend maximisation as the optimality criterion, first passage times are used to derive a general first order differential equation for the optimal control of the system at any reserves level, and this equation is solved fully for a certain class of problems. Examples are given of insurance and investment applications.

This paper considers a finite dam with independently and identically distributed (i.i.d.) inputs occurring in a Poisson process; the special cases where the inputs are (i) deterministic and (ii) negative exponentially distributed are considered in detail. The instantaneous release trate is proportional to the content, i.e., there is an exponential fall in conten except when inputs occur. This model may arise in several other situations such as a geiger counter or integrated shot noise. The distribution of the number of inputs, and of the time, to first overflowing is obtained in terms of generating functions; in Case (i) the solution is obtained through recurrence relations involving iterated integrals which can be evaluated numerically, and in Case (ii) using a series solution of a second order differential equation. Numerical results, in particular for the first two moments, are obtained for various values of the parameters of the model, and compared with a large number of simulations. Some remarks are also made about the infinite dam.