Polynomials under Ornstein–Uhlenbeck noise and an application to inference in stochastic Hodgkin–Huxley systems

Abstract

We discuss estimation problems where a polynomial s→∑ℓi=0ϑisi with strictly positive leading coefficient is observed under Ornstein–Uhlenbeck noise over a long time interval. We prove local asymptotic normality (LAN) and specify asymptotically efficient estimators. We apply this to the following problem: feeding noise dYt into the classical (deterministic) Hodgkin–Huxley model in neuroscience, with Yt=ϑt+Xt and X some Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process with backdriving force τ, we have asymptotically efficient estimators for the pair (ϑ,τ); based on observation of the membrane potential up to time n, the estimate for ϑ converges at rate n3−−−√.