Vadim Kaushansky

Alexander Lipton, Vadim Kaushansky, Christoph Reisinger

In this paper, we study the non-linear diffusion equation associated with a particle system where the common drift depends on the rate of absorption of particles at a boundary. We provide an interpretation as a structural credit risk model with default contagion in a large interconnected banking system. Using the method of heat potentials, we derive a coupled system of Volterra integral equations for the transition density and for the loss through absorption. An approximation by expansion is given for a small interaction parameter. We also present a numerical solution algorithm and conduct computational tests.

Vadim Kaushansky, Christoph Reisinger

We develop an Euler-type particle method for the simulation of a McKean--Vlasov equation arising from a mean-field model with positive feedback from hitting a boundary. Under assumptions on the parameters which ensure differentiable solutions, we establish convergence of order $1/2$ in the time step. Moreover, we give a modification of the scheme using Brownian bridges and local mesh refinement, which improves the order to $1$. We confirm our theoretical results with numerical tests and empirically investigate cases with blow-up.