On the \(A_ 0\)-acceptability of rational approximations to the exponential function with only real poles (Q1098247)

The authors consider rational functions \(R(z)=P(z)/Q(z)\), where \(Q(z)=\prod^{m}_{i=1}(1-\gamma_ iz),\) deg P(z)\(\leq m\) and which satisfy \(R(z)-\exp (z)=O(z^{m+1}).\) The main result of this article is the following: if \(\gamma_ i\geq 1/2\) for \(i=1,...,m\) the R(z) is an \(A_ 0\)-stable approximation to the exponential function (i.e. \(| R(x)| \leq 1\) for real negative values x). Further it is shown that the above function can be obtained as stability function of collocation methods with distinct collocation points. It is also remarked that methods with distinct \(\gamma_ i\) can be implemented efficiently if parallel processors are available.