Explicit Runge–Kutta pairs with lower stage-order

Abstract

Explicit Runge–Kutta pairs of methods of successive orders of accuracy provide effective algorithms for approximating solutions to nonstiff initial value problems. For each explicit RK method of order of accuracy p, there is a minimum number s p of derivative evaluations required for each step propagating the numerical solution. For p ≤ 8, Butcher has established exact values of s p , and for p > 8, his work establishes lower bounds; otherwise, upper bounds are established by various published methods. Recently, Khashin has derived some new methods numerically, and shown that the known upper bound on s 9 for methods of order p = 9 can be reduced from 15 to 13. His results motivate this attempt to identify parametrically exact representations for coefficients of such methods. New pairs of methods of orders 5,6 and 6,7 are characterized in terms of several arbitrary parameters. This approach, modified from an earlier one, increases the known spectrum of types of RK pairs and their derivations, may lead to the derivation of new RK pairs of higher-order, and possibly to other types of explicit algorithms within the class of general linear methods.