Splitting Simulation Techniques

Principle

Splitting simulation techniques are a class of variance reduction methods for Monte Carlo simulations, particularly effective for estimating rare event probabilities. The core principle involves dividing a simulation path into multiple “splits” whenever it enters a predefined region of interest, thereby increasing the number of observations of the rare event. Each split path is then re-weighted to maintain an unbiased estimator. This approach strategically multiplies successful paths to enhance sampling efficiency.