NodePy: A package for the analysis of numerical ODE solvers

Abstract

Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are used to model a vast range of physical and other phenomena. They also arise in the discretization of partial differential equations. In most cases, solutions of differential equations must be approximated by numerical methods. The study of the properties of numerical methods for ODEs comprises an important and large body of knowledge. NodePy (available from https://github.com/ketch/nodepy, with documentation at https://nodepy.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) is a software package for designing and studying the properties of numerical ODE solvers. For the most important classes of methods, NodePy can automatically assess their stability, accuracy, and many other properties. NodePy has also been used as a catalog of coefficients for time integration methods in PDE solver codes.