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Fourth-Order Runge-Kutta, Cont'd
Disadvantage of RK4: requires f' to be evaluated 4 times per step.
But, can still be cost effective if larger steps OK.
RK4 is workhorse method. Higher-order RK4 takes too much effort for increased accuracy.
Other methods (e.g. Bulirsch-Stoer, NRiC §16.4) are more accurate for smooth functions.
But RK4 often "good enough".
Notes: