Consider a differential equation with and , where is a Lie algebra of the matricial Lie group . Every can be mapped to by the matrix exponential map with .
Most numerical methods for solving ordinary differential equations (ODEs) on Lie groups are based on the idea of representing the approximation of the exact solution , , by means of exact exponentials of suitable elements of the Lie algebra, applied to the initial value . This ensures that .
When the exponential is difficult to compute exactly, as is the case when the dimension is large, an approximation of plays an important role in the numerical solution of ODEs on Lie groups. In some cases rational or polynomial approximants are unsuitable and we consider alternative techniques, whereby is approximated by a product of simpler exponentials.
In this paper we present some ideas based on the use of the Strang splitting for the approximation of matrix exponentials. Several cases of and are considered, in tandem with general theory. Order conditions are discussed, and a number of numerical experiments conclude the paper.