A monotone piecewise constant control integration approach for the two-factor uncertain volatility model (2402.06840v4)

Abstract: Option contracts on two underlying assets within uncertain volatility models have their worst-case and best-case prices determined by a two-dimensional (2D) Hamilton-Jacobi-BeLLMan (HJB) partial differential equation (PDE) with cross-derivative terms. This paper introduces a novel ``decompose and integrate, then optimize'' approach to tackle this HJB PDE. Within each timestep, our method applies piecewise constant control, yielding a set of independent linear 2D PDEs, each corresponding to a discretized control value. Leveraging closed-form Green's functions, these PDEs are efficiently solved via 2D convolution integrals using a monotone numerical integration method. The value function and optimal control are then obtained by synthesizing the solutions of the individual PDEs. For enhanced efficiency, we implement the integration via Fast Fourier Transforms, exploiting the Toeplitz matrix structure. The proposed method is $\ell_{\infty}$-stable, consistent in the viscosity sense, and converges to the viscosity solution of the HJB equation. Numerical results show excellent agreement with benchmark solutions obtained by finite differences, tree methods, and Monte Carlo simulation, highlighting its robustness and effectiveness.