Relationships among some classes of implicit Runge-Kutta methods and their stability functions

In this paper we apply the theory for implicit Runge-Kutta methods presented by Stetter to a number of subclasses of methods that have recently been discussed in the literature. We first show how each of these classes can be expressed within this theoretical framework and from this we are able to establish a number of relationships among these classes. In addition to improving the current state of understanding of these methods, their expression within this theoretical framework makes it possible for us to obtain results giving general forms for their stability functions.