Runge-Kutta Methods for the Numerical Solution of Stiff Semilinear Systems

This paper studies the stability and convergence properties of general Runge-Kutta methods when they are applied to stiff semilinear systems y(t) = J(t)y(t) + g(t, y(t)) with the stiffness contained in the variable coefficient linear part.We consider two assumptions on the relative variation of the matrix J(t) and show that for each of them there is a family of implicit Runge-Kutta methods that is suitable for the numerical integration of the corresponding stiff semilinear systems, i.e. the methods of the family are stable, convergent and the stage equations possess a unique solution. The conditions on the coefficients of a method to belong to these families turn out to be essentially weaker than the usual algebraic stability condition which appears in connection with the B-stability and convergence for stiff nonlinear systems. Thus there are important RK methods which are not algebraically stable but, according to our theory, they are suitable for the numerical integration of semilinear problems.This paper also extends previous results of Burrage, Hundsdorfer and Verwer on the optimal convergence of implicit Runge-Kutta methods for stiff semilinear systems with a constant coefficients linear part.     

Two-step numerical methods for parabolic differential equations

A family of two-stepA-stable methods of maximal order for the numerical solution of ordinary differential systems is developed. If these methods are applied to the stiff, large systems which originate from linear parabolic differential equations they yield a large, sparse set of linear algebraic equations of special form. This set is considerably easier to solve than the algebraic equations which are obtained when using diagonal Obrechkoff methods, which are one-step,A-stable and of maximal order     

A class of A(α)-stable numerical methods for stiff problems in ordinary differential equations

The A(α)-stable numerical methods (ANMs) for the number of steps k ≤ 7 for stiff initial value problems (IVPs) in ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are proposed. The discrete schemes proposed from their equivalent continuous schemes are obtained. The scaled time variable t in a continuous method, which determines the discrete coefficients of the discrete method, is chosen in such a way as to ensure that the discrete scheme attains a high order and A(α)-stability. We select the value of α for which the schemes proposed are absolutely stable. The new algorithms are found to have a comparable accuracy with that of the backward differentiation formula (BDF) discussed in [12] which implements the Ode15s in the Matlab suite.     

A 0-Stability and stiff stability of Brown's multistep multiderivative methods

Summary Brown [1] introducedk-step methods usingl derivatives. Necessary and sufficient conditions forA ₀-stability and stiff stability of these methods are given. These conditions are used to investigate for whichk andl the methods areA ₀-stable. It is seen that for allk andl withk1.5 (l+1) the methods areA ₀-stable and stiffly stable. This result is conservative and can be improved forl sufficiently large. For smallk andl A ₀-stability has been determined numerically by implementing the necessary and sufficient condition.     

A study of Rosenbrock-type methods of high order

Summary This paper deals with the solution of nonlinear stiff ordinary differential equations. The methods derived here are of Rosenbrock-type. This has the advantage that they areA-stable (or stiffly stable) and nevertheless do not require the solution of nonlinear systems of equations. We derive methods of orders 5 and 6 which require one evaluation of the Jacobian and oneLU decomposition per step. We have written programs for these methods which use Richardson extrapolation for the step size control and give numerical results.     

Efficient higher order implicit one-step methods for integration of stiff differential equations

A new implicit integration method is presented which can efficiently be applied in the solution of (stiff) differential equations. The given formulas are of a modified implicit Runge-Kutta type and areA-stable. They may containA-stable embedded methods for error estimation and step-size control.     

Equilibrium states for predictor-corrector methods

A theory is developed that explains the stepsize patterns observed when standard predictor-corrector methods with variable stepsize strategy are used to solve stiff or mildly stiff problems. In some cases an algorithmic steady state occurs with smooth almost constant stepsizes; at other times an oscillating stepsize pattern of stepsizes is observed with the possibility of frequent rejected steps.     

On the construction of high order <Emphasis Type="Italic">A</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">α</Emphasis>)-stable hybrid linear multistep methods for stiff IVPs in ODEs

In this paper, we present a class of A(α)-stable hybrid linear multistep methods for numerical solving stiff initial value problems (IVPs) in ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The method considered uses a second derivative like the Enright’s second derivative linear multistep methods for stiff IVPs in ODEs.     

Unconditionally stable explicit methods for parabolic equations

Summary This paper discussesrational Runge-Kutta methods for stiff differential equations of high dimensions. These methods are explicit and in addition do not require the computation or storage of the Jacobian. A stability analysis (based onn-dimensional linear equations) is given. A second orderA ₀-stable method with embedded error control is constructed and numerical results of stiff problems originating from linear and nonlinear parabolic equations are presented.     

Efficient parallel multivalue hybrid methods for stiff differential equations

A class of efficient parallel multivalue hybrid methods for stiff differential equations are presented, which are all extremely stable at infinity,A-stable for orders 1–3 and A(α)-stable for orders 4–8. Each method of the class can be performed parallelly using two processors with each processor having almost the same computational amount per integration step as a backward differentiation formula (BDF) of the same order with the same stepsize performed in serial, whereas the former has not only much better stability properties but also a computational accuracy higher than the corresponding BDF. Theoretical analysis and numerical experiments show that the methods constructed in this paper are superior in many respects not only to BDFs but also to some other commonly used methods.     

B-Theory of Runge-Kutta methods for stiff volterra functional differential equations

B-stability andB-convergence theories of Runge-Kutta methods for nonlinear stiff Volterra functional differential equations (VFDEs) are established which provide unified theoretical foundation for the study of Runge-Kutta methods when applied to nonlinear stiff initial value problems (IVPs) in ordinary differential equations (ODEs), delay differential equations (DDEs), integro-differential equations (IDEs) and VFDEs of other type which appear in practice.     

Solvability of elliptic systems with square integrable boundary data

We consider second order elliptic divergence form systems with complex measurable coefficients A that are independent of the transversal coordinate, and prove that the set of A for which the boundary value problem with L ₂ Dirichlet or Neumann data is well posed, is an open set. Furthermore we prove that these boundary value problems are well posed when A is either Hermitean, block or constant. Our methods apply to more general systems of partial differential equations and as an example we prove perturbation results for boundary value problems for differential forms.     

The Stability Properties of Singly-implicit General Linear Methods

In this paper we examine the linear stability properties ofsingly-implicit general linear methods. We show numericallythat there exist A-stable methods of up to order 14. Based onvarious stability and implementation considerations we proposea family of methods of orders two to ten to be incorporatedinto a variable order, variable stepsize package suitable forsolving stiff ordinary differential equations.     

On Principal Hook Length Partitions and Durfee Sizes in Skew Characters

We construct for a given arbitrary skew diagram A{\mathcal A} all partitions ν with maximal principal hook lengths among all partitions with [ν] appearing in [A{\mathcal A}]. Furthermore, we show that these are also partitions with minimal Durfee size. We use this to give the maximal Durfee size for [ν] appearing in [A{\mathcal A}] for the cases when A{\mathcal A} decays into two partitions and for some special cases of A{\mathcal A}. We also deduce necessary conditions for two skew diagrams to represent the same skew character.     

Semi-Conjugate Direction Methods for Real Positive Definite Systems

In this preliminary work, left and right conjugate direction vectors are defined for nonsymmetric, nonsingular matrices A and some properties of these vectors are studied. A left conjugate direction (LCD) method for solving nonsymmetric systems of linear equations is proposed. The method has no breakdown for real positive definite systems. The method reduces to the usual conjugate gradient method when A is symmetric positive definite. A finite termination property of the semi-conjugate direction method is shown, providing a new simple proof of the finite termination property of conjugate gradient methods. The new method is well defined for all nonsingular M-matrices. Some techniques for overcoming breakdown are suggested for general nonsymmetric A. The connection between the semi-conjugate direction method and LU decomposition is established. The semi-conjugate direction method is successfully applied to solve some sample linear systems arising from linear partial differential equations, with attractive convergence rates. Some numerical experiments show the benefits of this method in comparison to well-known methods. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stability analysis of numerical methods for systems of neutral delay-differential equations

Stability analysis of some representative numerical methods for systems of neutral delay-differential equations (NDDEs) is considered. After the establishment of a sufficient condition of asymptotic stability for linear NDDEs, the stability regions of linear multistep, explicit Runge-Kutta and implicitA-stable Runge-Kutta methods are discussed when they are applied to asymptotically stable linear NDDEs. Some mentioning about the extension of the results for the multiple delay case is given.     

Convergence of rational multistep methods of Adams-Padé type

Rational generalizations of multistep schemes, where the linear stiff part of a given problem is treated by an A-stable rational approximation, have been proposed by several authors, but a reasonable convergence analysis for stiff problems has not been provided so far. In this paper we directly relate this approach to exponential multistep methods, a subclass of the increasingly popular class of exponential integrators. This natural, but new interpretation of rational multistep methods enables us to prove a convergence result of the same quality as for the exponential version. In particular, we consider schemes of rational Adams type based on A-acceptable Padé approximations to the matrix exponential. A numerical example is also provided.     

Four-stage symplectic and P-stable SDIRKN methods with dispersion of high order

New SDIRKN methods specially adapted to the numerical integration of second-order stiff ODE systems with periodic solutions are obtained. Our interest is focused on the dispersion (phase errors) of the dominant components in the numerical oscillations when these methods are applied to the homogeneous linear test model. Based on this homogeneous test model we derive the dispersion and P-stability conditions for SDIRKN methods which are assumed to be zero dissipative. Two four-stage symplectic and P-stable methods with algebraic order 4 and high order of dispersion are obtained. One of the methods is symmetric and sixth-order dispersive whereas the other method is nonsymmetric and eighth-order dispersive. These methods have been applied to a number of test problems (linear as well as nonlinear) and some numerical results are presented to show their efficiency when they are compared with other methods derived by Sharp et al. [IMA J. Numer. Anal. 10 (1990) 489–504].     

Second derivative general linear methods with inherent Runge–Kutta stability

In this paper, we find some relationships among the coefficients matrices of second derivative general linear methods (SGLMs) which are sufficient conditions, but not necessary, to ensure the methods have Runge–Kutta stability (RKS) property. Considering these conditions, we construct some A– and L–stable SGLMs with inherent RKS of orders up to five. Also, some numerical experiments for the constructed methods in variable stepsize environment are given.     

Fourth-Order Symmetric DIRK Methods for Periodic Stiff Problems

New symmetric DIRK methods specially adapted to the numerical integration of first-order stiff ODE systems with periodic solutions are obtained. Our interest is focused on the dispersion (phase errors) of the dominant components in the numerical oscillations when these methods are applied to the homogeneous linear test model. Based on this homogeneous test model we derive the dispersion conditions for symmetric DIRK methods as well as symmetric stability functions with real poles and maximal dispersion order. Two new fourth-order symmetric methods with four and five stages are obtained. One of the methods is fourth-order dispersive whereas the other method is symplectic and sixth-order dispersive. These methods have been applied to a number of test problems (linear as well as nonlinear) and some numerical results are presented to show their efficiency when they are compared with the symplectic DIRK method derived by Sanz-Serna and Abia (SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 28 (1991) 1081–1096).