On the zero stability of the variable order variable stepsize BDF- formulas (Q911237)

The authors derive bounds for the mesh-size ratios \(h_{j+1}/h_ j\) of nonequidistant grids such that variable order backward differentiation formulas are zero-stable. In the case of 3-step formulas the results of the third author and \textit{P. J. Paes-Lemme} [BIT 24, 85-91 (1984; Zbl 0554.65052)] are substantially improved. Further results are presented for 4- and 5-step formulas. Finally, it is shown that introducing some additional assumptions on the stepsize variation, the stability bounds can be considerably improved.