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[[File:Midpoint method illustration.png|right|thumb|Illustration of the midpoint method assuming that <math>y_n</math> equals the exact value <math>y(t_n).</math> The midpoint method computes <math>y_{n+1}</math> so that the red chord is approximately parallel to the tangent line at the midpoint (the green line).]]
In [[numerical analysis]], a branch of [[applied mathematics]], the '''midpoint method''' is a one-step method for [[Numerical ordinary differential equations|numerically]] solving the [[ordinary differential equation|differential equation]],
:<math> y'(t) = f(t, y(t)), \quad y(t_0) = y_0 .</math>
The explicit midpoint method is given by the formula
{{NumBlk|:|<math> y_{n+1} = y_n + hf\left(t_n+\frac{h}{2},y_n+\frac{h}{2}f(t_n, y_n)\right),
the implicit midpoint method by
{{NumBlk|:|<math> y_{n+1} = y_n + hf\left(t_n+\frac{h}{2},\frac12 (y_n+y_{n+1})\right),
for <math>n=0, 1, 2, \dots</math> Here, <math>h</math> is the ''step size'' — a small positive number, <math>t_n=t_0 + n h,</math> and <math>y_n</math> is the computed approximate value of <math>y(t_n).</math> The explicit midpoint method is sometimes also known as the '''modified Euler method''',<ref>{{harvnb|Süli|Mayers|2003|p=328}}</ref>
The name of the method comes from the fact that in the formula above, the function <math>f</math> giving the slope of the solution is evaluated at <math>t = t_n + h/2= \tfrac{t_n+t_{n+1}}{2},</math> the midpoint between <math>t_n</math> at which the value of <math>y(t)</math> is known and <math>t_{n+1}</math> at which the value of <math>y(t)</math> needs to be found.
A geometric interpretation may give a better intuitive understanding of the method (see figure at right). In the basic [[Euler's method]], the tangent of the curve at <math>(t_n, y_n)</math> is computed using <math>f(t_n, y_n)</math>. The next value <math> y_{n+1}</math> is found where the tangent intersects the vertical line <math>t=t_{n+1}</math>. However, if the second derivative is only positive between <math>t_n</math> and <math>t_{n+1}</math>, or only negative (as in the diagram), the curve will increasingly veer away from the tangent, leading to larger errors as <math>h</math> increases. The diagram illustrates that the tangent at the midpoint (upper, green line segment) would most likely give a more accurate approximation of the curve in that interval. However, this midpoint tangent could not be accurately calculated because we do not know the curve (that is what is to be calculated). Instead, this tangent is estimated by using the original Euler's method to estimate the value of <math>y(t)</math> at the midpoint, then computing the slope of the tangent with <math>f()</math>. Finally, the improved tangent is used to calculate the value of <math>y_{n+1}</math> from <math>y_n</math>. This last step is represented by the red chord in the diagram. Note that the red chord is not exactly parallel to the green segment (the true tangent), due to the error in estimating the value of <math>y(t)</math> at the midpoint.
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[[File:Numerical integration illustration step=0.25.svg|right|thumb|The same illustration for <math>h=0.25.</math> It is seen that the midpoint method converges faster than the Euler method.]]
The midpoint method is a refinement of the [[Euler
:<math> y_{n+1} = y_n + hf(t_n,y_n),\, </math>
and is derived in a similar manner.
The key to deriving Euler's method is the approximate equality
{{NumBlk|:|<math> y(t+h) \approx y(t) + hf(t,y(t))
which is obtained from the slope formula
{{NumBlk|:|<math> y'(t) \approx \frac{y(t+h) - y(t)}{h}
and keeping in mind that <math> y' = f(t, y).</math>
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:<math> y'\left(t+\frac{h}{2}\right) \approx \frac{y(t+h) - y(t)}{h} </math>
when instead of (2) we find
{{NumBlk|:|<math> y(t+h) \approx y(t) + hf\left(t+\frac{h}{2},y\left(t+\frac{h}{2}\right)\right).
One cannot use this equation to find <math> y(t+h)</math> as one does not know <math>y</math> at <math>t+h/2</math>. The solution is then to use a [[Taylor series]] expansion exactly as if using the [[Euler method]] to solve for <math>y(t+h/2)</math>:
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* {{cite book
|author1=Griffiths, D. V. |author2=Smith, I. M. |title=Numerical methods for engineers: a programming approach
|publisher=CRC Press
|___location=Boca Raton
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}}
* {{Citation | last1=Süli | first1=Endre | last2=Mayers | first2=David | title=An Introduction to Numerical Analysis | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | isbn=0-521-00794-1 | year=2003}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Burden | first1=Richard | last2=Faires | first2=John |title=Numerical Analysis |publisher=Richard Stratton|year=2010|isbn=978-0-538-73351-9|page=286}}
{{Numerical integrators}}
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