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Mean, variance and SDE of root-t times Brownian motion

Question

Let BB be standard Brownian motion and Zt=t BtZ_t=\sqrt t\,B_t. Find E[Zt]\mathbb{E}[Z_t] and Var⁡(Zt)\operatorname{Var}(Z_t), and derive the SDE satisfied by ZZ.

Short answer

Mean 00, variance t2t^2, and dZt=Bt2tdt+t dBt=Zt2tdt+t dBtdZ_t=\dfrac{B_t}{2\sqrt t}dt+\sqrt t\,dB_t=\dfrac{Z_t}{2t}dt+\sqrt t\,dB_t. The moments follow from Bt∼N(0,t)B_t\sim N(0,t). For the SDE, apply the product rule to t⋅Bt\sqrt t\cdot B_t; there is no Ito correction because t\sqrt t is deterministic and differentiable.

Adapted from Zhou, A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews, sec. 5.4 Brownian Motion and Stochastic Calculus, 'Ito's lemma A', p.134; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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