Optimal estimation of the rough Hurst parameter in additive noise

Abstract: We estimate the Hurst parameter $H \in (0,1)$ of a fractional Brownian motion from discrete noisy data, observed along a high frequency sampling scheme. When the intensity $\tau_n$ of the noise is smaller in order than $n^{-H}$ we establish the LAN property with optimal rate $n^{-1/2}$. Otherwise, we establish that the minimax rate of convergence is $(n/\tau_n^2)^{-1/(4H+2)}$ even when $\tau_n$ is of order 1. Our construction of an optimal procedure relies on a Whittle type construction possibly pre-averaged, together with techniques developed in Fukasawa et al. [Is volatility rough? arXiv:1905.04852, 2019]. We establish in all cases a central limit theorem with explicit variance, extending the classical results of Gloter and Hoffmann [Estimation of the Hurst parameter from discrete noisy data. The Annals of Statistics, 35(5):1947-1974, 2007].