Most probable paths for developed processes

Abstract: Optimal paths for the classical Onsager-Machlup functional determining most probable paths between points on a manifold are only explicitly identified for specific processes, for example the Riemannian Brownian motion. This leaves out large classes of manifold-valued processes such as processes with parallel transported non-trivial diffusion matrix, processes with rank-deficient generator and sub-Riemannian processes, and push-forwards to quotient spaces. In this paper, we construct a general approach to definition and identification of most probable paths by measuring the Onsager-Machlup functional on the anti-developement of such processes. The construction encompasses large classes of manifold-valued process and results in explicit equation systems for most probable paths. We define and derive these results and apply them to several cases of stochastic processes on Lie groups, homogeneous spaces, and landmark spaces appearing in shape analysis.