A conservative numerical scheme for solving an autonomous Hamiltonian system

Abstract

A new numerical scheme is proposed for solving Hamilton’s equations that possesses the properties of symplecticity. Just as in all symplectic schemes known to date, in this scheme the conservation laws of momentum and angular momentum are satisfied exactly. A property that distinguishes this scheme from known schemes is proved: in the new scheme, the energy conservation law is satisfied for a system of linear oscillators. The new numerical scheme is implicit and has the third order of accuracy with respect to the integration step. An algorithm is presented by which the accuracy of the scheme can be increased up to the fifth and higher orders. Exact and numerical solutions to the two-body problem, calculated by known schemes and by the scheme proposed here, are compared.