Stable Solvers for Stiff ODE Systems

In the previous chapter, we introduced explicit Runge-Kutta (ERK) methods and demonstrated how they can be implemented as a hierarchy of Python classes. For most ODE systems, replacing the simple forward Euler method with a higher-order ERK method will significantly reduce the number of time steps needed to reach a specified accuracy. Furthermore, it often leads to reduced computation time, since the additional cost per time step is outweighed by the reduced number of steps. However, there exists a class of ODEs known as stiff systems, where all the ERK methods require very small time steps, and any attempt to increase the time step leads to spurious oscillations and possible divergence of the solution. Stiff ODE systems pose a challenge for explicit methods, and they are better addressed by implicit solvers such as implicit Runge-Kutta (IRK) methods. IRK methods are well-suited for stiff problems and can offer substantial reductions in computation time when tackling challenging problems.