Explicit and implicit methods

Article summary

Explicit and implicit methods are approaches used in numerical analysis for obtaining numerical approximations to the solutions of ordinary and partial differential equations, as is required in computer simulations of physical processes. Explicit methods calculate the state of a system at a later time from the state of the system at the current time, while implicit methods find a solution by solving an equation involving both the current state of the system and the later one. Mathematically, if Y(t) is the current system state and Y(t+\Delta t) is the state at the later time ( \Delta t is a small time step), then, for an explicit method : Y(t+\Delta t) = F(Y(t))\, while for an implicit method one solves an equation : G\Big(Y(t), Y(t+\Delta t)\Big)=0 \qquad (1)\, to find Y(t+\Delta t).

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