Error propagation in numerical approximations near relative equilibria

Abstract

We study the propagation of errors in the numerical integration of perturbations of relative equilibrium solutions of Hamiltonian differential equations with symmetries. First it is shown that taking an initial perturbation of a relative equilibrium, the corresponding solution is related, in a first approximation, to another relative equilibrium, with the parameters perturbed from the original. Then, this is used to prove that, for stable relative equilibria, error growth with respect to the perturbed solution is in general quadratic, but only linear for schemes that preserve the invariant quantities of the problem. In this sense, the conclusion is similar to the one obtained when integrating unperturbed relative equilibria. Numerical experiments illustrate the results.