<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE article  PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v3.0 20080202//EN" "http://dtd.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/3.0/journalpublishing3.dtd"><article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" dtd-version="3.0" xml:lang="en" article-type="research article"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">AM</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>Applied Mathematics</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="epub">2152-7385</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Scientific Research Publishing</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.4236/am.2015.63045</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">AM-54506</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Articles</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="Discipline-v2"><subject>Physics&amp;Mathematics</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>
 
 
  A Special Case on the Stability and Accuracy for the 1D Heat Equation Using 3-Level and &lt;i&gt;&amp;theta;&lt;/i&gt;-Schemes
 
</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>edro</surname><given-names>Pablo Cárdenas Alzate</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref><xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1"><sup>*</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>José</surname><given-names>Gerardo Cardona</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref><xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1"><sup>*</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Luz</surname><given-names>María Rojas</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref><xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1"><sup>*</sup></xref></contrib></contrib-group><aff id="aff1"><addr-line>Department of Mathematics, Universidad Tecnol&amp;amp;oacute;gica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia</addr-line></aff><aff id="aff2"><addr-line>Fundaci&amp;amp;oacute;n Universitaria del Area Andina, Pereira, Colombia</addr-line></aff><author-notes><corresp id="cor1">* E-mail:<email>ppablo@utp.edu.co(EPCA)</email>;<email>gerardo7@utp.edu.co(JGC)</email>;<email>lmrojas@funandi.edu.co(LMR)</email>;</corresp></author-notes><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>03</day><month>03</month><year>2015</year></pub-date><volume>06</volume><issue>03</issue><fpage>476</fpage><lpage>483</lpage><history><date date-type="received"><day>15</day>	<month>February</month>	<year>2015</year></date><date date-type="rev-recd"><day>accepted</day>	<month>5</month>	<year>March</year>	</date><date date-type="accepted"><day>10</day>	<month>March</month>	<year>2015</year></date></history><permissions><copyright-statement>&#169; Copyright  2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. </copyright-statement><copyright-year>2014</copyright-year><license><license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</license-p></license></permissions><abstract><p>
 
 
  We establish the conditions for the compute of the stability restriction and local accuracy on the time step and we prove the consistency and local truncation error by using 
  <em>θ</em>-scheme and 3-level scheme for Heat Equation with smooth initial conditions and for some parameter 
  <em>θ</em>∈[0,1].
 
</p></abstract><kwd-group><kwd>Global Truncation</kwd><kwd> Local Accuracy</kwd><kwd> Stability Restriction</kwd></kwd-group></article-meta></front><body><sec id="s1"><title>1. Introduction</title><p>In this paper we have considered the heat equation <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x8.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> with<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x9.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. Using <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x10.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>-scheme and 3-level scheme in space we compute the order of local accuracy in space and time and stability restriction as a function of <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x11.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> on the time step<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x12.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. Much attention has been paid to the development, analysis and implementation of accurate methods for the numerical solution of this problem in the literature. Many problems are modeled by smooth initial conditions and Dirichlet boundary conditions. A number of procedures have been suggested (see, for instance [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.54506-ref1">1</xref>] - [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.54506-ref3">3</xref>] ). We can say that three classes of solution techniques have emerged for solution of PDE: the finite difference techniques, the finite element methods and the spectral techniques (see [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.54506-ref4">4</xref>] and [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.54506-ref5">5</xref>] ). The last one has the advantage of high accuracy attained by the resulting discretization for a given number of nodes [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.54506-ref6">6</xref>] - [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.54506-ref8">8</xref>] .</p><p>We consider Scheme (1) for the 1D heat equation for some parameter<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x13.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. We compute the order of local accuracy in space and time as a function of <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x14.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and its the stability restriction. Until<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x15.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>, we compute the solution with some fixed <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x16.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> error with the smallest amount of CPU time, and finally we can see this findings producing the relevant convergence and efficiency plot. For the 3-level scheme we consider (11) for the 1D heat equation and we compute the local truncation error. For different values of <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x17.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x18.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we find the stability criterion of the scheme and its accuracy.</p></sec><sec id="s2"><title>2. <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x19.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>-Scheme</title><p>Let</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula638"><label>(1)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x20.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>be the <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x21.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>-scheme applied to the one-dimensional heat equation</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula639"><label>(2)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x22.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Now for the order of local accuracy in space and time as a function of <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x23.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we write the local truncation error. In time we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula640"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x24.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>where <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x25.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> represents the exact solution of the heat equation. Now we perform Taylor expansion of <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x25.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x26.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> at<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x25.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x26.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x27.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>.</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula641"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x28.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>We can write the LHS of (1) as</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula642"><label>(3)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x29.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula643"><label>(4)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x30.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>here <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x31.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> represents the derivative with respect to time, of<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x31.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x32.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. On the RHS, we have a centered difference approximating second derivative of <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x31.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x32.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x33.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula></p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula644"><label>(5)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x34.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>As we are solving the heat equation, the previous expression is</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula645"><label>(6)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x35.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Now, at time <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x36.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula646"><label>(7)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x37.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula647"><label>(8)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x38.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>therefore, applying Taylor expansion with respect to <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x39.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we can write</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula648"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x40.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula649"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x41.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula650"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x42.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>So (8) becomes</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula651"><label>(9)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x43.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Here RHS of (1) becomes</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula652"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x44.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>After the elimination of some terms we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula653"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x45.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Now simplifying we obtain</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula654"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x46.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Cancelling <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x47.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and moving all terms to the right side, we get</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula655"><label>(10)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x48.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Scheme (10) is first order in time, second order in space. If for example<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x49.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>, it becomes second order, this is due to cancellation of the<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x49.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x50.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>.</p>Stability Restriction as a Function of <img data-original="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x51.png" /><p>Here we will apply Von Neumann stability. Let <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x52.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x52.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x53.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. Then Equation (1) can be written as</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula656"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x54.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Now dividing by <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x55.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula657"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x56.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula658"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x57.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Therefore by using <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x58.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x58.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x59.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we can rewrite the expression as</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula659"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x60.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula660"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x61.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula661"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x62.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula662"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x63.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula663"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x64.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>By using the identity <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x65.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula664"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x66.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>We can say this scheme is stable only for<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x67.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. Now, let<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x67.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x68.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. The inequality is</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula665"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x69.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>thus</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula666"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x70.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Now multiplying by the denominator we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula667"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x71.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula668"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x72.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>The expression in the absolute value becomes</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula669"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x73.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Therefore by the Von Neumann stability condition, the scheme is stable if<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x74.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>.</p><p>In this case we can say the following about the best combination for <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x75.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x75.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x76.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. In order to have both local accuracy and stability, the optimal value of <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x75.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x76.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x77.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> is <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x75.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x76.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x77.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x78.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and therefore this scheme represents the Crank-Ni- cholson scheme. Here <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x75.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x76.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x77.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x78.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x79.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x75.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x76.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x77.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x78.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x79.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x80.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> appear in the form<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x75.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x76.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x77.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x78.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x79.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x80.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x81.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>.</p><p>In <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig1">Figure 1</xref> the convergence plot equation (varying the radio r) is</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula670"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x82.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>with matrix A described in the heat equation. We can say the scheme is unconditionally stable. We can see in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig1">Figure 1</xref> that we have a linear convergence with respect to r.</p></sec><sec id="s3"><title>3. Three-Level Scheme</title><p>We start by computing the stability restriction one has to impose on<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x83.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. We apply Von Neumannstability analysis to the scheme.</p><p>Let</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula671"><label>(11)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x84.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>where</p><fig id="fig1"  position="float"><label><xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig1">Figure 1</xref></label><caption><title> E vs. r for 1D-heat equation, <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x86.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>with initial temperature <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x86.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x87.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> on<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x86.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x87.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x88.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula></title></caption><graphic mimetype="image"   position="float"  xlink:type="simple"  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x85.png"/></fig><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula672"><label>(12)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x89.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>and</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula673"><label>(13)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x90.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>By using (12) and (13) we can rewrite (11) as</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula674"><label>(14)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x91.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>or as</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula675"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x92.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>The local truncation error for this scheme <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x93.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> is as follow.</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula676"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x94.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>where <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x95.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> represents the exact solution of the heat equation. Therefore we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula677"><label>(15)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x96.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Now expanding <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x97.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> operator on the left side, we can isolate the forward difference in time at<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x97.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x98.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>, then</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula678"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x99.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>however,</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula679"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x100.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Expanded this expression becomes</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula680"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x101.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Finally we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula681"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x102.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula></sec><sec id="s4"><title>4. Stability Criterion for the Three-Level Scheme and Its Accuracy When <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x103.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x103.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x104.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula></title><p>By using Equation (14) we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula682"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x105.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Now applying Von Neumann stability again, the aim is to use <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x106.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x106.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x107.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>, therefore</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula683"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x108.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Multiplying both sides by <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x109.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and write <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x109.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x110.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we obtained</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula684"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x111.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Using the cosine identity that <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x112.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we have</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula685"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x113.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>We have a quadratic equation in<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x114.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>, where<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x114.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x115.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>, therefore</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula686"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x116.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>After some cancellations, we can write</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula687"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x117.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>Here, if all <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x118.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> we need</p><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula688"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x119.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><disp-formula id="scirp.54506-formula689"><graphic  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/4-7402655x120.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula></sec><sec id="s5"><title>Acknowledgements</title><p>We would like to thank the referee for his valuable suggestions that improved the presentation of this paper.</p></sec></body><back><ref-list><title>References</title><ref id="scirp.54506-ref1"><label>1</label><mixed-citation publication-type="other" xlink:type="simple">Strikwerda, J.C. 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