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SDE solver table¤

For an explanation of the terms in the table, see how to choose a solver.

This table is included as a reference that we think should be correct, but if you're going to use any of this information in a load-bearing way (for example a publication) then please double-check the information! It's a big table, we might have gotten something wrong.

+----------------+-------+------------+------------------------------------+-------------------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
|                | SDE   | Lévy       | Strong/weak order (per noise type) | VF evaluations    | Embedded error | Recommended for                          |
|                | type  | area       +----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+ estimation     | (and other notes)                        |
|                |       |            | General  | Commutative  | Additive | Drift | Diffusion |                |                                          |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| Euler          | Itô   | BM only    | 0.5/1.0  | 0.5/1.0      | 1.0/1.0  | 1     | 1         | No             | Itô SDEs when a cheap solver is needed.  |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| Heun           | Strat | BM only    | 0.5/1.0  | 1.0/1.0      | 1.0/1.0  | 2     | 2         | Yes            | Standard solver for Stratonovich SDEs.   |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| EulerHeun      | Strat | BM only    | 0.5/1.0  | 0.5/1.0      | 1.0/1.0  | 1     | 2         | No             | Stratonovich SDEs with expensive drift.  |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| ItoMilstein    | Itô   | BM only    | 0.5/1.0  | 1.0/1.0      | 1.0/1.0  | 1     | 1         | No             | Better than Euler for Itô SDEs, but      |
|                |       |            |          |              |          |       |           |                | comuptes the derivative of diffusion VF. |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| Stratonovich   | Strat | BM only    | 0.5/1.0  | 1.0/1.0      | 1.0/1.0  | 1     | 1         | No             | For commutative Stratonovich SDEs when   |
| Milstein       |       |            |          |              |          |       |           |                | space-time Lévy area is not available.   |
|                |       |            |          |              |          |       |           |                | Computes derivative of diffusion VF.     |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| ReversibleHeun | Strat | BM only    | 0.5/1.0  | 1.0/1.0      | 1.0/1.0  | 2     | 2         | Yes            | When a reversible solver is needed.      |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| Midpoint       | Strat | BM only    | 0.5/1.0  | 1.0/1.0      | 1.0/1.0  | 2     | 2         | Yes            | Usually Heun should be preferred.        |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| Ralston        | Strat | BM only    | 0.5/1.0  | 1.0/1.0      | 1.0/1.0  | 2     | 2         | Yes            | Usually Heun should be preferred.        |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| ShARK          | Strat | space-time | /        | /            | 1.5/2.0  | 2     | 2         | Yes            | Additive noise SDEs.                     |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| SRA1           | Strat | space-time | /        | /            | 1.5/2.0  | 2     | 2         | Yes            | Only slightly worse than ShARK.          |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| SEA            | Strat | space-time | /        | /            | 1.0/1.0  | 1     | 1         | No             | Cheap solver for additive noise SDEs.    |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| SPaRK          | Strat | space-time | 0.5/1.0  | 1.0/1.0      | 1.5/2.0  | 3     | 3         | Yes            | General SDEs when embedded error         |
|                |       |            |          |              |          |       |           |                | estimation is needed.                    |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| GeneralShARK   | Strat | space-time | 0.5/1.0  | 1.0/1.0      | 1.5/2.0  | 2     | 3         | No             | General SDEs when embedded error         |
|                |       |            |          |              |          |       |           |                | estimaiton is not needed.                |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| SlowRK         | Strat | space-time | 0.5/1.0  | 1.5/2.0      | 1.5/2.0  | 2     | 5         | No             | Commutative noise SDEs.                  |
+----------------+-------+------------+----------+--------------+----------+-------+-----------+----------------+------------------------------------------+