Knowledge card
BDF — Backward Differentiation Formula (shooting)
Symbol
BDF2A single-shooting boundary-value method: it marches an initial-value guess across the interval with an implicit second-order backward-differentiation (BDF2) integrator and corrects the unknown initial slopes by damped Newton iteration until the terminal boundary residuals vanish.
About levels
Why the levels load one at a time
Only level 0 travels with this article; the expansion runs to level 1. The complete expansion is several megabytes, so deeper levels are fetched one at a time when you ask for them.
To go deeper still, open any quantity in the reading as its own concept card — it carries its own derivation and its own depth ladder.
In words:3/2 times minus2 times plus1/2 times equals.
Open full derivation chain: 2 stepsDerivation
- 1
Open Step 1: Given / definition · The startup row, and the only formula available at the very first step: with no earlier state t…
The startup row, and the only formula available at the very first step: with no earlier state to differentiate through, the backward difference is the plain one-step difference. This is a first-order implicit rule — the right-hand side is still evaluated at the NEW point, which is where the stability comes from.Given / definition Defining ruleThe starting relation of a derivation — the definition or established equation every later step transforms; it justifies no change itself.Level 0 · more availableBrief — named quantitiesAbout levels
Why the levels load one at a time
Only level 0 travels with this article. The complete expansion is several megabytes, so deeper levels are fetched one at a time when you ask for them — and how deep it goes is not known until you get there.
To go deeper still, open any quantity in the reading as its own concept card — it carries its own derivation and its own depth ladder.
How many levels remain is not yet known — the depth is discovered one level at a time.
- ★
Open Step 2: Advance one integration step · Once one step has been taken a second earlier state exists, so the backward difference can be f…
Once one step has been taken a second earlier state exists, so the backward difference can be fitted through BOTH previous points instead of one — raising the formula to order 2, with the authored coefficients ((3/2), 2, (1/2), signed) as its weights. This is the formula the integrator marches with for every step after the first. Because the right-hand side is evaluated at the NEW point it depends on the unknown y_{n+1}, so each step solves an inner nonlinear system — the price of the stability an implicit backward formula buys.Advance one integration step Defining ruleyₙ₊₁ = yₙ + (h/6)(k₁ + 2k₂ + 2k₃ + k₄)Advancing the state one mesh step with a one-step integrator (classical RK4 shown).Open term-change ledger: 1 records
Open record 1: ∅ → y_{n-1}
Consumes:∅Produces:L0Admitting the second backward point y_{n-1} into the stencil is what raises the order from 1 to 2; the authored coefficients are the unique weights that make the backward difference match the derivative at the new point to that order.y_{n-1}Resulting expressionState at the Preceding PointThe state vector one step further back. Using it is exactly what raises the formula to order 2 — and its absence at the very first step is why a lower-order startup row is needed.Level 0 · more availableBrief — named quantitiesAbout levels
Why the levels load one at a time
Only level 0 travels with this article. The complete expansion is several megabytes, so deeper levels are fetched one at a time when you ask for them — and how deep it goes is not known until you get there.
To go deeper still, open any quantity in the reading as its own concept card — it carries its own derivation and its own depth ladder.
How many levels remain is not yet known — the depth is discovered one level at a time.
Equation Workspace
Set known values, calculate unknowns, inspect dependencies, and run numerical solves.
Calculator
Equation Workspace
Set known values, calculate unknowns, inspect dependencies, and run numerical solves.
Equation workspace
Set the values you know, then calculate the remaining quantities in BDF — Backward Differentiation Formula (shooting).
Domain Analysis
Unit status, dimensional trails, per-step checks, and custom unit expressions.
Domain Analysis
Unit status, dimensional trails, per-step checks, and custom unit expressions.
Step-by-step unit check (2 steps)
Step 1 given
Expand checked this step.Step 2 integrate_step
Expand checked this step.
Try your own — the unit calculator
Ever wondered whether a formula “adds up”? This tool answers one plain question: do the units match? Pick a couple of quantities (distance, time, a speed…), join them with ×, ÷, +, or =, and press Run. It works out the resulting unit — for example distance ÷ time gives a speed, LT⁻¹ (metres per second) — and flags anything that can’t be right, like adding a length to a time.
Reads as: BDF2
“BDF2” is analysed by expanding its full defining equation (its children and their relations), not as a bare symbol. Use Check this concept’s units above for the same result.
Mathematical Analysis
Object type, lawful operations, conditions, comparisons, and derivation-step checks.
Mathematical Analysis
Object type, lawful operations, conditions, comparisons, and derivation-step checks.
Check one step at a time (2 steps)
Step 1 — given
Step 2 — integrate step
Essence
S1The startup row, and the only formula available at the very first step: with no earlier state to differentiate through, the backward difference is the plain one-step difference. This is a first-order implicit rule — the right-hand side is still evaluated at the NEW point, which is where the stability comes from.
- S1.1essencey_{n+1} reduced by y_n.
- S1.2essence(y_{n+1} − y_n) set equal to h·f(η_{n+1}, y_{n+1}).
S2Once one step has been taken a second earlier state exists, so the backward difference can be fitted through BOTH previous points instead of one — raising the formula to order 2, with the authored coefficients ((3/2), 2, (1/2), signed) as its weights. This is the formula the integrator marches with for every step after the first. Because the right-hand side is evaluated at the NEW point it depends on the unknown y_{n+1}, so each step solves an inner nonlinear system — the price of the stability an implicit backward formula buys.
- S2.1essencey_{n+1} reduced by y_n.
- S2.2essenceThe sum of (y_{n+1} − y_n) and y_{n-1}.
- S2.3essence((y_{n+1} − y_n) + y_{n-1}) set equal to h·f(η_{n+1}, y_{n+1}).
Dimension I
Definition
What it is — and what it is not
Dimension II
In practice
How to deal with it
No practical guidance recorded yet.