Brownian Motion
Brownian motion is a continuous-time stochastic process that serves as the foundation for modeling the random movement of asset prices. It describes a path that is continuous but nowhere differentiable, reflecting the erratic and unpredictable nature of market price fluctuations.
In financial modeling, it is often used as the building block for more complex processes like Geometric Brownian Motion, which accounts for the fact that prices cannot be negative. This process assumes that market changes are independent and normally distributed over time.
It is the core assumption behind many derivative pricing models, including the Black-Scholes model. While it simplifies the reality of market jumps and fat tails, it provides a powerful baseline for understanding volatility and risk.
It allows analysts to define the diffusion of prices and the probability of reaching certain levels. It is an essential concept for understanding the mathematical structure of financial market dynamics.