An Algorithm Derivative-Free to Improve the Steffensen-Type Methods

Abstract

Solving equations of the form H(x)=0 is one of the most faced problem in mathematics and in other science fields such as chemistry or physics. This kind of equations cannot be solved without the use of iterative methods. The Steffensen-type methods, defined using divided differences are derivative free, are usually considered to solve these problems when H is a non-differentiable operator due to its accuracy and efficiency. However, in general, the accessibility of these iterative methods is small. The main interest of this paper is to improve the accessibility of Steffensen-type methods, this is the set of starting points that converge to the roots applying those methods. So, by means of using a predictor–corrector iterative process we can improve this accessibility. For this, we use a predictor iterative process, using symmetric divided differences, with good accessibility and then, as corrector method, we consider the Center-Steffensen method with quadratic convergence. In addition, the dynamical studies presented show, in an experimental way, that this iterative process also improves the region of accessibility of Steffensen-type methods. Moreover, we analyze the semilocal convergence of the predictor–corrector iterative process proposed in two cases: when H is differentiable and H is non-differentiable. Summing up, we present an effective alternative for Newton’s method to non-differentiable operators, where this method cannot be applied. The theoretical results are illustrated with numerical experiments.