Probability Theory – How to Prove a Martingale

conditional-expectationprobabilityprobability theory

We define $S_0=0$ and $S_n=X_1+…+X_n$ where $(X_n)$ is an i.i.d. sequence such that $\Bbb{P}(X_1=-1)=\Bbb{P}(X_1=1)=1/2$. We define $\mathfrak{F}_n=\sigma(S_0,…,S_n)$. I want to show that $(P(S_n,n))_{n\geq 0}$ is an $\mathfrak{F}_n$-martingale ($P$ is a polynomial in 2 variables) if for all $l,m\in \Bbb{Z}$ $$P(l+1,m+1)-2P(l,m)+P(l-1,m+1)=0$$

I know that I need to show that $\Bbb{E}(P(S_{n+1},n+1)|\mathfrak{F}_n)=P(S_n,n)$ somehow I don't see how to work with the polynomial case, how can I split this up to get somehow a sum of conditional expectations? I know that this has to do with the equality from above. Could someone maybe give me a hint?

Best Answer

Note that $X_{n+1}$ is independent of $\mathscr{F}_n$, while $S_n$ is $\mathscr{F}_n$-measurable. It follows that for any measurable (and admissible) $f$, we have $E[f(S_n,X_{n+1})|\mathscr{F}_n]=E[f(s,X_{n+1})]|_{s=S_n}$. Then $$\begin{aligned}E[P(S_{n+1},n+1)|\mathscr{F}_{n}]&=E[P(S_{n}+X_{n+1},n+1)|\mathscr{F}_{n}]=\\ &=\frac{1}{2}P(S_{n}+1,n+1)+\\ &+\frac{1}{2}P(S_{n}-1,n+1)=\\ &=\frac{1}{2}2P(S_n,n)=P(S_n,n)\end{aligned}$$