Consider the sum Y = B + B(H) of a Brownian motion B and an independent fractional Brownian motion B(H) with Hurst parameter H ∈ (0, 1). Even though B(H) is not a semimartingale, it was shown by Cheridito (Bernoulli 7 (2001) 913–934) that Y is a semimartingale if H > 3/4. Moreover, Y is locally equivalent to B in this case, so H cannot be consistently estimated from local observations of Y. This paper pivots on another unexpected feature in this model: if B and B(H) become correlated, then Y will never be a semimartingale, and H can be identified, regardless of its value. This and other results will follow from a detailed statistical analysis of a more general class of processes called mixed semimartingales, which are semiparametric extensions of Y with stochastic volatility in both the martingale and the fractional component. In particular, we derive consistent estimators and feasible central limit theorems for all parameters and processes that can be identified from high-frequency observations. We further show that our estimators achieve optimal rates in a minimax sense.

Active learning of physical systems must commonly respect practical safety constraints, which restricts the exploration of the design space. Gaussian Processes (GPs) and their calibrated uncertainty estimations are widely used for this purpose. In many technical applications the design space is explored via continuous trajectories, along which the safety needs to be assessed. This is particularly challenging for strict safety requirements in GP methods, as it employs computationally expensive Monte-Carlo sampling of high quantiles. We address these challenges by providing provable safety bounds based on the adaptively sampled median of the supremum of the posterior GP. Our method significantly reduces the number of samples required for estimating high safety probabilities, resulting in faster evaluation without sacrificing accuracy and exploration speed. The effectiveness of our safe active learning approach is demonstrated through extensive simulations and validated using a real-world engine example.

The linear fractional stable motion generalizes two prominent classes of stochastic processes, namely stable Lévy processes, and fractional Brownian motion. For this reason, it may be regarded as a basic building block for continuous time models.We study a stylized model consisting of a superposition of independent linear fractional stable motions and our focus is on parameter estimation of the model. Applying an estimating equations approach, we construct estimators for the whole set of parameters and derive their asymptotic normality in a high-frequency regime. The conditions for consistency turn out to be sharp for two prominent special cases: (i) for Lévy processes, that is, for the estimation of the successive Blumenthal-Getoor indices and (ii) for the mixed fractional Brownian motion introduced by Cheridito. In the remaining cases, our results reveal a delicate interplay between the Hurst parameters and the indices of stability. Our asymptotic theory is based on new limit theorems for multiscale moving average processes.