REVIEW 3 major objections 5 minor 1 cited by
Randomised Euler-Maruyama method for SDEs with H\"older continuous drift coefficient
T0 review · 3 major / 5 minor · reviewed 2026-08-10 · deepseek-v4-flash
Pith's one-line read Randomized Euler-Maruyama for additive SDEs with $\alpha$-Hölder time drift and bounded $\beta$-Hölder spatial drift achieves strong $L^p$ order $1/2+(\alpha\wedge(\beta/2))-\varepsilon$, beating standard Euler when time irregularity is…
desk verdict A genuinely new strong-order rate for randomized EM on additive SDEs with Hölder drift, built on a coherent stochastic-sewing argument; the main fragility is an imported PDE bound and an 'almost optimal' claim resting on unpublished work. read the letter →
The pith
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
The reading
What carries the argument
The load-bearing object is the randomized Euler-Maruyama scheme itself, $X^{(n)}_t=x_0+\int_0^t f(\kappa^\tau_n(s),X^{(n)}_{\kappa_n(s)})\,ds+B_t$, where $\kappa^\tau_n(s)=(\lfloor ns\rfloor+\tau_{\lfloor ns\rfloor})/n$ and $(\tau_i)$ are i.i.d. $U(0,1)$ random variables independent of the Brownian motion $B$. The mechanism that carries the argument is the martingale structure of the quadrature error sequence: on each grid cell, $\int_{j/n}^{(j+1)/n} [g(r,B_{\kappa_n(r)})-g(\kappa^\tau_n(r),B_{\kappa_n(r)})]\,dr$ is an $L^p$-martingale in the random-shift filtration, whose maximum is controlled by its quadratic variation. That is why the time-irregularity exponent $\alpha$ appears with an added $1/2$. Around this, the proof uses the stochastic sewing lemma (Theorem 2.2) to promote local quadratic bounds of order $|t-s|^{1/2+\varepsilon}n^{-(1/2+\gamma-\varepsilon)}$ to global supremum bounds, and a backward Kolmogorov equation whose solution's gradient is contractive in the interval length, which lets the error recursion be closed on a partition.
What would settle it
For the scalar SDE $dX(t)=|t-1/2|^\alpha\,dt+dB(t)$ with $\alpha=0.4$, $\beta=1$, the exact solution is $X(t)=x_0+\int_0^t |s-1/2|^\alpha ds+B(t)$, and the theorem predicts randomized Euler-Maruyama strong error of order $0.9-\varepsilon$ while standard EM gives $0.4$. Simulating both on the same Brownian path and regressing $\log E[\sup_t|X_t-X^{(n)}_t|]$ against $\log n$ for $n=2^9$ to $2^{15}$ should show those two slopes; a randomized slope at or below $0.4$ would falsify Theorem 4.2.
Extended reading notes
Core claim
The paper's central claim is Theorem 4.2: for $f\in C^{\alpha,\beta}_b$ and the randomized Euler-Maruyama scheme (1.12), the strong error satisfies $E[\sup_{0\le t\le1}|X(t)-X^{(n)}_t|^p]\le C n^{-(1/2+\gamma-\varepsilon)p}$ for every $p\ge1$ and $\varepsilon\in(0,1/2)$, with $\gamma:=\alpha\wedge(\beta/2)$. In words, the $p$-th-mean supremum error decays like $n^{-(1/2+\gamma-\varepsilon)}$. The randomized evaluation at $t_{j-1}+\tau_j/n$ converts the deterministic time-quadrature error into a discrete martingale in the artificial randomness, which buys an extra $n^{-1/2}$. The error analysis splits the scheme error into two quadratic bounds, proves them through the stochastic sewing lemma after an equivalent change of measure, and closes the recursion using the backward Kolmogorov equation on a partition where the gradient of its solution is uniformly small. The authors also argue the rate is almost optimal, since the ODE lower bound $1/2+\alpha$ and the SDE lower bound $1/2+\beta/2$ combine to the target $1/2+\gamma$.
Load-bearing premise
The argument collapses if the quoted backward-Kolmogorov estimate of Lemma 4.1—that the solution's spatial gradient, measured in the $\beta$-Hölder norm, is bounded by a constant times the square root of the time-interval length—fails or is not uniform in the stated way.
Editorial extensions
If this is right
- When $\alpha<1/2$, the theorem gives a strong rate of $1/2+\alpha-\varepsilon$, half an order above the standard Euler rate $\alpha$, so the gain is largest exactly when time irregularity is the bottleneck.
- When $\beta<2\alpha$, the rate becomes $1/2+\beta/2-\varepsilon$, independent of the time-Hölder exponent; spatial roughness then controls the error.
- The bound holds for every $p\ge1$ and controls the supremum of the error over the whole interval, not just the error at a fixed time.
- The theorem is almost optimal: the lower bounds $1/2+\alpha$ for randomized ODE quadrature and $1/2+\beta/2$ for additive SDEs with $\beta$-Hölder drift put the target at $1/2+\gamma$, which the randomized EM attains up to an arbitrarily small $\varepsilon$.
Reading between the lines
- Not claimed in the paper, but the same random-shift mechanism should transfer to Milstein-type schemes with non-differentiable drift, where time irregularity also enters as a quadrature term and the half-order gain should persist.
- A cheap stress test: for a purely time-dependent drift $f(t)$, the SDE reduces to a deterministic ODE plus additive Brownian motion, so the theorem predicts that randomized EM matches the randomized-ODE quadrature rate $1/2+\alpha$; a scalar benchmark with $f(t)=|t-1/2|^\alpha$ isolates that mechanism.
- Whether the $\varepsilon$-loss is removable is left open; if a matching lower bound for the randomized scheme could be proved, the rate $1/2+\gamma$ would be sharp for this numerical method rather than merely almost optimal.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The paper introduces a randomised Euler-Maruyama scheme for additive SDEs with drift f in C^{α,β}_b, using i.i.d. U(0,1) shifts τ_j inside each time step. The main theorem (Theorem 4.2) asserts strong L^p convergence of order 1/2 + (α∧β/2) − ε, improving on the standard EM rate α∧(1/2+β/2−ε). The proof is built from two quadratic bounds established via the stochastic sewing lemma (Propositions 3.2 and 3.4), a Girsanov transfer from the numerical solution to shifted Brownian motion (Lemma 3.7), and a PDE-based error decomposition on a partition imported from [15] (Lemma 4.1). An alternative martingale proof of Lemma 3.3 is given in Appendix B.
Significance. The claimed rate is a genuine improvement for time-irregular drifts and is consistent with known lower bounds from randomized ODE quadrature (1/2+α) and SDE approximation with β-Hölder drift (1/2+β/2). The paper is the first to apply the stochastic sewing lemma to randomised schemes, and the alternative discrete-martingale proof in Appendix B is a useful comparison. However, Lemma 3.7 is false as stated because the Girsanov density factor is mishandled, and Lemma 4.1 is imprecisely stated and imported without proof; since both are used in the main recursion, the main theorem is not currently established. The errors appear fixable within the paper's scope, and the overall strategy is sound.
major comments (3)
- [§3, Lemma 3.7 and Eq. (3.17)] The stated bound (3.14) cannot hold with the factor ‖f‖_{C^{α,β}_b}. Taking f≡0 and g(t,x)=t gives a nonzero left-hand side (the randomised quadrature error ∫(r−κ^τ_n(r))dr has positive L^p norm under P^τ) while the right-hand side is zero. The error occurs in (3.17), where (E^B[dP_B/d\tilde{P}_B|\mathcal{F}^τ])^{1/2} is replaced by ‖f‖; in fact E^B[dP_B/d\tilde{P}_B|\mathcal{F}^τ]=1 because the density is a PB-martingale and \mathcal{F}^τ is independent of B, so the correct second factor is 1. Please correct the statement and proof, and propagate the corrected constant through Corollary 3.8 and Theorem 4.2.
- [§4, Lemma 4.1] This lemma is quoted from [15] without proof, and its first displayed condition cannot be a universal statement: for a fixed partition, ‖φ‖C0Δ^{1/2}≤ε cannot hold for all φ, since φ may have arbitrarily large C^β norm. The proof only needs the condition for φ=f_l, so the lemma should be restated with the partition chosen for f (or for the fixed φ), and the notation ‖φ‖_{C^β_b([0,1])} should be defined. Additionally, the line in the proof of Theorem 4.2 that bounds ‖∂u_{l,i}/∂x_k‖_{C^1_b} by Mε does not follow from the stated estimates: the C^1 norm is controlled by M‖φ‖_{C^β}, not by ε. Since these estimates generate the smallness of the ε-terms in the recursion, the authors should either prove Lemma 4.1 or give a precise citation and a corrected statement.
- [§4, Eqs. (4.5)–(4.8)] The passage from the BDG term ∫E|∇u_{l,i}(s,X_s)−∇u_{l,i}(s,X_s^{(n)})|^p ds to the Grönwall term ∫E sup_{T_{i-1}≤u≤s}|X_u−X_u^{(n)}|^p ds requires a Lipschitz bound on ∇u_{l,i}. Lemma 4.1 only records a C^β bound on ∇u; the needed Lipschitz property follows from u∈C^{2,β'} but is not stated or proved. As written, the displayed recursion does not close. Please add the explicit bound |∇u(x)−∇u(y)|≤M‖φ‖_{C^β}|x−y| and adjust the constants accordingly.
minor comments (5)
- [§3, Eq. (3.4)] In Eq. (3.4), the symbol f appears where g is meant in the second and third displayed lines; this is confusing and should be corrected.
- [§4, proof of Theorem 4.2] The phrase 'the contrain on ε' should read 'the constraint on ε'.
- [§4, Theorem 4.2] Theorem 4.2 states p≥1 but the proof treats p≥2; add a sentence explaining that the case 1≤p<2 follows from the L^2 result by Lyapunov's inequality.
- [§3, Eq. (3.19)] Eq. (3.19) is missing the integral sign and the differential dr inside the supremum; it should read sup_{0≤s≤t}|∫_0^s (g1(r,X_r)−g1(κ^τ_n(r),X_{κ_n(r)})) g2(r,X_r) dr|.
- [Appendix B] In the proof of the alternative martingale bound, 'integrating with respect to P^W' should be 'integrating with respect to P^B'.
Circularity Check
No significant circularity: the randomized EM rate is derived from external stochastic-sewing and PDE estimates, not from its own conclusion.
full rationale
The derivation chain is self-contained in the relevant sense. The central rate in Theorem 4.2 is obtained by combining new quadratic bounds (Propositions 3.2 and 3.4, Lemma 3.7, Corollary 3.8) with an imported backward-Kolmogorov estimate (Lemma 4.1, cited from the external paper [15]). None of these steps fits a parameter to the target error or defines the claimed rate into the assumptions. The randomized scheme (1.12) is motivated by earlier randomized-quadrature work, including papers co-authored by Wu, but the main proof does not cite those papers as the source of the convergence estimate; the quadratic bounds are proven here via the stochastic sewing lemma and heat-kernel estimates from [3] and [14]. The self-citations are contextual, not load-bearing. Lemma 4.1 is indeed quoted rather than proved in this paper, so its uniformity and validity are a proof-support or correctness concern, but an unproved external lemma is not circularity. Similarly, Remark 4.3's 'almost optimal' claim relies on an unpublished lower bound [7]; that is a verifiability gap, not a circular reduction. No equation or fitted quantity is renamed as a prediction, and no uniqueness or ansatz is imported from the authors' own prior work to force the result. Therefore the honest finding is no circularity.
Assumptions & free parameters
assumptions (5)
- standard math Stochastic sewing lemma (Theorem 2.2 of [14]) is used as a black box to bound randomized quadrature errors in Section 3.
- standard math PDE regularity estimates for the backward Kolmogorov equation (Lemma 4.1 of [15]) provide solutions u with controlled gradient and Hessian.
- standard math Girsanov theorem with Novikov condition is applied pathwise in the randomization variables in Lemma 3.7.
- standard math Heat kernel estimates from Proposition A.1 and A.2 of [3] control conditional expectations of Holder functions of Brownian motion.
- domain assumption The drift f is assumed to lie in C^{alpha,beta}_b, i.e. bounded and alpha-Holder in time and beta-Holder in space.
invented entities (1)
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i.i.d. U(0,1) randomization variables tau_j inserted into the time grid
independent evidence
Cite this review
Pith. "Pith review of Randomised Euler-Maruyama method for SDEs with H\"older continuous drift coefficient." pith.science (2026). https://pith.science/paper/DVEA4K2T
@misc{pith2026250115527,
author = {Pith},
title = {Pith review of: Randomised Euler-Maruyama method for SDEs with H\"older continuous drift coefficient},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://pith.science/paper/DVEA4K2T}},
note = {Machine review of arXiv:2501.15527}
}
abstract
In this paper, we examine the performance of randomised Euler-Maruyama (EM) method for additive time-inhomogeneous SDEs with an irregular drift. In particular, the drift is assumed to be $\alpha$-H\"older continuous in time and bounded $\beta$-H\"older continuous in space with $\alpha,\beta\in (0,1]$. The strong order of convergence of the randomised EM in $L^p$-norm is shown to be $1/2+(\alpha \wedge (\beta/2))-\epsilon$ for an arbitrary $\epsilon\in (0,1/2)$, higher than the one of standard EM, which is $\alpha \wedge (1/2+\beta/2-\epsilon)$. The proofs highly rely on the stochastic sewing lemma, where we also provide an alternative proof when handling time irregularity for a comparison.
Forward citations
Cited by 1 Pith paper
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Randomised Euler-Maruyama Method for SDEs with H\"older Continuous Drift Coefficient Driven by $\alpha$-stable L\'evy Process
For SDEs with Hölder drift driven by symmetric α-stable noise, α∈(1,2), the randomised Euler-Maruyama scheme has L^p strong order 1/2 + β ∧ (η/α) ∧ 1/2 − ε, above the standard EM order.
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