Order reduction and how to avoid it when explicit Runge-Kutta-Nyström methods are used to solve linear partial differential equations (Q1763654)

Linear second order hyperbolic partial differential equations are discretized by means of the method of lines and explicit Runge-Kutta-Nyström methods are used in the discretization process. The order of these discretizations observed in practice is obtained included the fractional part and the loss of order is discussed. An analysis shows how this loss can be avoided by a careful treatment of the boundary conditions. Numerical experiments are presented which reveal the optimal order of accuracy of the new approach.