Symmetric and symplectic exponential integrators for nonlinear Hamiltonian systems

This letter studies symmetric and symplectic exponential integrators when applied to numerically computing nonlinear Hamiltonian systems. We first establish the symmetry and symplecticity conditions of exponential integrators and then show that these conditions are extensions of the symmetry and symplecticity conditions of Runge–Kutta methods. Based on these conditions, some symmetric and symplectic exponential integrators up to order four are derived. Two numerical experiments are carried out and the results demonstrate the remarkable numerical behaviour of the new exponential integrators in comparison with some symmetric and symplectic Runge–Kutta methods in the literature.