Asymptotics of implied volatility in the Gatheral double stochastic volatility model

Abstract: We consider a market model of financial engineering with three factors represented by three correlated Brownian motions. The volatility of the risky asset in this model is the sum of two stochastic volatilities. The dynamic of each volatility is governed by a mean-reverting process. The first stochastic volatility of mean-reversion process reverts to the second volatility at a fast rate, while the second volatility moves slowly to a constant level over time with the state of the economy.The double mean-reverting model by Gatheral (2008) is motivated by empirical dynamics of the variance of the stock price. This model can be consistently calibrated to both the SPX options and the VIX options. However due to the lack of an explicit formula for both the European option price and the implied volatility, the calibration is usually done using time consuming methods like Monte Carlo simulation or the finite difference method.To solve the above issue, we use the method of asymptotic expansion developed by Pagliarani and Pascucci (2017). In paper A, we study the behaviour of the implied volatility with respect to the logarithmic strike price and maturity near expiry and at-the-money. We calculate explicitly the asymptotic expansions of implied volatility within a parabolic region up the second order. In paper B we improve the results obtain in paper A by calculating the asymptotic expansion of implied volatility under the Gatheral model up to order three. In paper C, we perform numerical studies on the asymptotic expansion up to the second order. The Monte-Carlo simulation is used as the benchmark value to check the accuracy of the expansions. We also proposed a partial calibration procedure using the expansions. The calibration procedure is implemented on real market data of daily implied volatility surfaces for an underlying market index and an underlying equity stock for periods both before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, in paper D we check the performance of the third order expansion and compare it with the previous results.