We propose two signature-based methods to solve the optimal stopping problem - that is, to price American options - in non-Markovian frameworks. Both methods rely on a global approximation result for L^p-functionals on rough path-spaces, using linear functionals of robust, rough path signatures. In the primal formulation, we present a non-Markovian generalization of the famous Longstaff-Schwartz algorithm, using linear functionals of the signature as regression basis. For the dual formulation, we parametrize the space of square-integrable martingales using linear functionals of the signature, and apply a sample average approximation. We prove convergence for both methods and present first numerical examples in non-Markovian and non-semimartingale regimes.
We extend the signature-based primal and dual solutions to the optimal stopping problem recently introduced in [Bayer et al.: Primal and dual optimal stopping with signatures, to appear in Finance Stochastics 2025], by integrating deep-signature and signature-kernel learning methodologies. These approaches are designed for non-Markovian frameworks, in particular enabling the pricing of American options under rough volatility. We demonstrate and compare the performance within the popular rough Heston and rough Bergomi models.
In this work, we introduce a novel pricing methodology in general, possibly non-Markovian local stochastic volatility (LSV) models. We observe that by conditioning the LSV dynamics on the Brownian motion that drives the volatility, one obtains a time-inhomogeneous Markov process. Using tools from rough path theory, we describe how to precisely understand the conditional LSV dynamics and reveal their Markovian nature. The latter allows us to connect the conditional dynamics to so-called rough partial differential equations (RPDEs), through a Feynman-Kac type of formula. In terms of European pricing, conditional on realizations of one Brownian motion, we can compute conditional option prices by solving the corresponding linear RPDEs, and then average over all samples to find unconditional prices. Our approach depends only minimally on the specification of the volatility, making it applicable for a wide range of classical and rough LSV models, and it establishes a PDE pricing method for non-Markovian models. Finally, we present a first glimpse at numerical methods for RPDEs and apply them to price European options in several rough LSV models.