Structure of numerical algorithms and advanced mechanics

Abstract

Most elementary numerical schemes found useful for solving classical trajectory problems are {\it canonical transformations}. This fact should be make more widely known among teachers of computational physics and Hamiltonian mechanics. From the perspective of advanced mechanics, there are no bewildering number of seemingly arbitrary elementary schemes based on Taylor's expansion. There are only {\it two} canonical first and second order algorithms, on the basis of which one can comprehend the structures of higher order symplectic and non-symplectic schemes. This work shows that, from the most elementary first-order methods to the most advanced fourth-order algorithms, all can be derived from canonical transformations and Poisson brackets of advanced mechanics.