Multirate linear multistep methods

The design of a code which uses different stepsizes for different components of a system of ordinary differential equations is discussed. Methods are suggested which achieve moderate efficiency for problems having some components with a much slower rate of variation than others. Techniques for estimating errors in the different components are analyzed and applied to automatic stepsize and order control. Difficulties, absent from non-multirate methods, arise in the automatic selection of stepsizes, leading to a suggested organization of the code that is counter-intuitive. An experimental code and some initial experiments are described.