Parallel iterated methods based on variable step‐size multistep Runge—Kutta methods of Radau type for stiff problems

Abstract

In our previous paper [3], the performance of a variable step‐size implementation of Parallel Iterated Methods based on Multistep Runge–Kutta methods (PIMRK) is far from satisfactory. This is due to the fact that the underlying parameters of the Multistep Runge–Kutta (MRK) method, and the splitting matrices W that are needed to solve the nonlinear system are designed on a fixed step‐size basis. Similar unsatisfactory results based on this method were also noted by Schneider [12], who showed that the method is only suitable when the step‐size does not vary too often. In this paper, we design the Variable step‐size Multistep Runge–Kutta (VMRK) method as the underlying formula for Parallel Iterated methods. The numerical results show that Parallel Iterated Variable step‐size MRK (PIVMRK) methods improve substantially on the PIMRK methods and are usually competitive with Parallel Iterated Runge–Kutta methods (PIRKs).