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Can there be an explicit formula for implied volatility?

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  • Stefan Gerhold

Abstract

It is "well known" that there is no explicit expression for the Black-Scholes implied volatility. We prove that, as a function of underlying, strike, and call price, implied volatility does not belong to the class of D-finite functions. This does not rule out all explicit expressions, but shows that implied volatility does not belong to a certain large class, which contains many elementary functions and classical special functions.

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  • Stefan Gerhold, 2012. "Can there be an explicit formula for implied volatility?," Papers 1211.4978, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1211.4978
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael Roper & Marek Rutkowski, 2009. "On The Relationship Between The Call Price Surface And The Implied Volatility Surface Close To Expiry," International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance (IJTAF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(04), pages 427-441.
    2. Martin Schweizer & Johannes Wissel, 2008. "Term Structures Of Implied Volatilities: Absence Of Arbitrage And Existence Results," Mathematical Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 77-114, January.
    3. Martin Forde & Antoine Jacquier, 2009. "Small-Time Asymptotics For Implied Volatility Under The Heston Model," International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance (IJTAF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(06), pages 861-876.
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    Cited by:

    1. Don M. Chance & Thomas A. Hanson & Weiping Li & Jayaram Muthuswamy, 2017. "A bias in the volatility smile," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 47-90, April.
    2. Yixiao Lu & Yihong Wang & Tinggan Yang, 2021. "Adaptive Gradient Descent Methods for Computing Implied Volatility," Papers 2108.07035, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2023.

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