The Effect of Independent Parameter on Accuracy of Direct Block Method

Block methods that approximate the solution at several points in block form are commonly used to solve higher order differential equations. Inspired by the literature and ongoing research in this field, this paper intends to explore a new derivation of block backward differentiation formula that employs independent parameter to provide sufficient accuracy when solving second order ordinary differential equations directly. The use of three backward steps and five independent parameters are considered adequately in generating the variable coefficients of the formulas. To ascertain only one parameter exists in the derived formula, the order of the method is determined. Such independent parameter retains the favorable convergence properties although the values of parameter will affect the zero stability and truncation error. An ability of the method to compute the approximated solutions at two points concurrently is undeniable. Another advantage of the method is being able to solve the second order problems directly without recourse to the technique of reducing it to a system of first order equations. The essential of the error analysis is to observe the effect of independent parameter on the accuracy, in the sense that with certain appropriate values of parameter, the accuracy is improved. The performance of the method is tested with some initial value problems and the numerical results confirm that the maximum error and average error obtained by the proposed method are smaller at certain step size compared to the other conventional direct methods.