Rotational invariance of a central-potential Hamiltonian by
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Squared orbital angular momentum in position and momentum operators by
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Operator ordering gives
The operators satisfyThey therefore change the magnetic quantum number by while preserving the total angular-momentum quantum number .
Rotation commutators for orbital angular momentum by
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Fixed-tension partition function of a one-dimensional chain by
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A harmonic coordinate satisfies for a Riemannian metric, or for a Lorentzian metric. Equivalently or . This common coordinate condition applies in both Riemannian geometry and general relativity.
A quadrature rule approximates an integral by a finite weighted sum of sampled function values:The quadrature nodes specify where to sample, and the quadrature weights specify how much each sample contributes. The density specifies the target integral, whereas the discrete quadrature weights belong to the approximation. Ordinary numerical integration has . Gaussian quadrature and the midpoint quadrature rule choose interior quadrature nodes; the trapezoidal rule includes endpoints.[ref]
For ordinary numerical integration, exactness on the constant function requires ; exactness on additionally requires . These two checks make the quadrature rule exact for every affine function. For example, both the midpoint quadrature rule and trapezoidal rule give for . Testing progressively higher polynomial degrees defines the degree of precision of a quadrature rule. Exactness describes a class of integrands, rather than promising exact results for every function.
Composite midpoint quadrature rules and composite trapezoidal rules apply a simple quadrature rule on every panel of a partition of an interval. This buys accuracy by shrinking the panels while keeping the elementary formula fixed. For continuous functions sampled exactly, their quadrature errors tend to zero as the largest panel width tends to zero. The familiar second-order bounds require stronger assumptions about derivatives. The signed approximation error used here is ; some sources define quadrature error with the opposite sign, so the convention must accompany any formula.
For a one-step method applied to , write . Its linear stability domain isForward Euler has , while backward Euler has and is A-stable.
A Runge-Kutta method advances an initial value problem , , by sampling its vector field at several trial states within one time step. These samples are Runge-Kutta stages; a weighted combination of their slopes produces the next state. The construction improves on the single tangent line used by the Euler method while requiring evaluations of , rather than explicit higher derivatives of the solution. It applies to scalar equations and systems of ordinary differential equations alike. The coefficient choices distinguish methods such as Heun's method, the classical fourth-order Runge-Kutta method and implicit Runge-Kutta methods.
For stages, write for the stage matrix, for relative time nodes and for output weights. A time step of length computesHere is a slope, with units of state per time; is a state increment. Another common convention writes , so its stage states are and its output is . These are equivalent conventions: including both inside and again in the output would count the time step twice. The textbook formulation uses the increment convention.[ref]
6.4 Runge-Kutta methods. Fundamentals of Numerical Computation, §6.4.3, equations 6.4.10–6.4.11: multistage recipe and tableau
Usually the Butcher tableau obeys , called internal consistency. Stage then combines slopes over an effective time . The second-order conditions with independent Runge-Kutta abscissae explain what changes when time nodes are specified independently. A Runge-Kutta stage is generally an auxiliary approximation, not a separate accepted solution value at its node. Several stages can even have the same time node but different state arguments, as in the classical fourth-order Runge-Kutta method.
The useful idea is to approximate the integral without knowing the intermediate exact trajectory. Trial states provide places to sample , and Butcher order conditions make the resulting combination agree with the exact Taylor expansion. More stages alone do not guarantee a higher order of a numerical method: their coefficients must satisfy the appropriate conditions. Embedded Runge-Kutta pairs reuse these same samples for a second output and a practical local error estimator.
Fourier spectral method for variable-coefficient advection by
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