README.md

RungeKutta.jl

A basic implementation of the Runge-Kutta ODE solver for systems of first order differential equations.

NOTE: Requires Julia 0.4.

Setup

There are no dependencies, just install with

	Pkg.clone("git://github.com/timothyrenner/RungeKutta.jl.git");

Usage

The only function currently implemented is the rk4f function for a fourth order fixed width Runge-Kutta solution.

It's first argument is an array of functions of the form f(t,x) where t is the time (scalar) and x is the point (Array). The functions in the array represent an iterative representation of the system of ODEs. f should be defined such that f[i](t, x_n) = x[i]_(n+1) for each element i in the array of functions. The idea is that applying each element of f to x_n results in a new vector x_(n+1).

The second argument is the initial point (x0). The third is the initial time (t0). The fourth is the step size (h), and the fifth is the number of iterations (n).

The rk4f function returns a one dimensional array for the times, and a two dimensional array with each column being a solution point as a function of time.

If the length of f doesn't match the length of x0, an ArgumentError is thrown. Also, if n or h is below zero, an ArgumentError is thrown.

Example

As an example, suppose we want to solve the simple harmonic oscillator equation. It's a second order ODE that can be written as two coupled first order ODEs.

x'' + x = 0

Written as two first order ODEs:

x' = y

y' = -x

Therefore the f function array for this is

f = [(t,x) ->  x[2],
	 (t,x) -> -x[1]];

Putting everything together,

using RungeKutta

f = [(t,x) ->  x[2],
	 (t,x) -> -x[1]];
x0 = [0.0, 1.0];
t0 = 0.0;
h = 0.0001;
n = 100000;

t,x = rk4f(f, x0, t0, h, n);

This performs 100,000 iterations of the equations defined by f.

Here's x[1,:] as a function of time:

Here's the phase space plot:

Plots made with the awesome Gadfly package.