A unit-modulus amplification root of a linear multistep method puts its test-equation parameter on this boundary locus, except when numerator and denominator both vanish. If the locus avoids the open left half-plane, the leading coefficient never vanishes there and the roots are initially inside the disk at one point there, continuity keeps them inside throughout that connected region. Checking zero-stability, imaginary-axis roots and common polynomial factors is still necessary. A boundary plot alone is not a proof of A-stability.
Classical fourth-order Runge-Kutta method Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
The classical four-stage explicit Runge-Kutta method uses
It satisfies the fourth-order conditions for a Runge-Kutta method. Its polynomial stability function excludes A-stability, while gives the imaginary-axis stability interval .
Lobatto IIIA method 2026-10-05
A Lobatto IIIA method collocates at the Lobatto quadrature nodes, including both endpoints of the time interval. Its three-stage version has
The Butcher order conditions give order four. Its stability function is
which is A-stable but not L-stable. It is not algebraically stable: the first diagonal entry of the defining matrix is . This distinguishes linear A-stability from nonlinear algebraic stability.