Properties of Wavelet Discretization of Black-Scholes Equation

Using wavelet methods, the continuous problem is transformed into a well-conditioned discrete problem. And once a non-symmetric problem is given, squaring yields a symmetric positive definite formulation. However squaring usually makes the condition number of discrete problems substantially worse. This note is concerned with a wavelet based numerical solution of the Black-Scholes equation for pricing European options. We show here that in wavelet coordinates a symmetric part of the discretized equation dominates over an unsymmetric part in the standard economic environment with low interest rates. It provides some justification for using a fractional step method with implicit treatment of the symmetric part of the weak form of the Black-Scholes operator and with explicit treatment of its unsymmetric part. Then a well-conditioned discrete problem is obtained.