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TL;DR

The Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process: Mean Reversion: A canonical quantitative trading interview question at olympiad difficulty. Commonly asked at Citadel, Two Sigma, DE Shaw, Millennium, Point72.

By Valenke Exam Prep Team·Last updated 2026-06-01
olympiadStochastic Processes & Calculus

The Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process: Mean Reversion

Asked at: Citadel, Two Sigma, DE Shaw, Millennium, Point72

Problem
An interest rate spread follows the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process: dXt=θ(μXt)dt+σdWtdX_t = \theta(\mu - X_t) \, dt + \sigma \, dW_t with θ=2\theta = 2, μ=0.05\mu = 0.05, σ=0.01\sigma = 0.01, and X0=0.08X_0 = 0.08. (a) Find E[Xt]E[X_t] and Var(Xt)\text{Var}(X_t). (b) What is the stationary distribution? (c) A mean-reversion trader enters a position when X0=0.08X_0 = 0.08. What is the expected time for XtX_t to return to μ=0.05\mu = 0.05?

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