The orders of embedded continuous explicit Runge-Kutta methods

Previously, the authors [9] classified various types of continuous explicit Runge-Kutta methods of order 5. Here, new lower bounds on the numbers of stages required for a sequence of continuous methods of increasing orders which are embedded in a continuouss-stage method of orderp are obtained. Carnicer [2] showed for each continuous explicit Runge-Kutta method of orderp in a mildly restricted family that at least 2p – 2 stages are required. Here, the same bound is established for all such methods of orderp.This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Information Technology Research Centre of Ontario. In addition, the second author was supported by the Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica of Italy.