International Journal of Computer Mathematics

Vol. 84, No. 7, July 2007, 971–977

Fourth-order two-step iterative methods for determining

multiple zeros of non-linear equations
N. A. MIR*† and NAILA RAFIQ‡
†Department of Mathematics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Plot No. 30,
Sector H-8/1, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
‡Centre for Advanced Studies in Pure and Applied Mathematics, B. Z. University,
Multan 60800, Pakistan

(Received 28 September 2005; revised version received 19 December 2006; accepted 28 December 2006)

In this paper, we describe and analyse two two-step iterative methods for finding multiple zeros of non-
linear equations. We prove that the methods have fourth-order convergence. The methods calculate
the multiple zeros with high accuracy. These are the first two-step multiple zero finding methods.
The numerical tests show their better performance in the case of algebraic as well as non-algebraic
equations

Keywords: Convergence order; Multiple zeros; Non-linear equations; Predictor–corrector methods;

Two-step iterative methods

AMS Subject Classifications: 12D10; 26C10; 30C15; 34A34

1. Introduction

Finding the roots of single-variable non-linear equations efficiently is a very basic and old
problem in numerical analysis and has many applications in engineering and other applied
sciences. We consider an equation of the form
f (x) = 0, (1.1)
where f is single-variable non-linear function. Many one-step iterative methods for solving
non-linear equations for distinct zeros have been developed using various techniques [1–7].
Recently, Ujevic [8] has suggested two-step methods for solving non-linear equations for
distinct zeros.
Motivated by the research going on in this direction, we present and analyse two two-step
iterative methods for finding multiple zeros of non-linear equations. We prove that the methods
have fourth-order convergence. The methods calculate the multiple zeros with high accuracy.
These are the first two-step multiple zero finding methods. The numerical tests show their better

*Corresponding author. Email: namir@comsats.edu.pk

International Journal of Computer Mathematics

ISSN 0020-7160 print/ISSN 1029-0265 online © 2007 Taylor & Francis
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/00207160701210646
972 N. A. Mir and N. Rafiq

performance in the case of algebraic as well as non-algebraic equations. First, we generalize

the method due to Chen and Li [2] to multiple zero finding of non-linear equations and then
combine it with Newton’s method for multiple zero finding of non-linear equations. Our results
can be considered as a generalization, improvement and refinement of the previously known
results in the literature.

2. Two-step iterative methods for multiple zeros of non-linear equations

We propose the following generalization of the Chen–Li method to the case of multiple zero
finding of non-linear equations:
 
f (xk )
xk+1 = xk exp −α .
xk f  (xk )

Expanding in Taylor’s series up to first order gives Newton’s method for multiple zero finding
of non-linear equations. Combining this generalization with Newton’s method for multiple
zeros, we have the following two-step algorithms:

ALGORITHM 1
Step 1: For initial guess xo , a tolerance ε > 0, and for iterations n, set k = 0.
Step 2: Calculate
 
f (xk )
zk = xk exp −α ,
xk f  (xk )

f (zk )
xk+1 = zk − α .
f  (zk )

Step 3: If |xk+1 − xk | < ε or k > n then stop.

Step 4: Set k → k + 1 and go to Step 2.

ALGORITHM 2
Step 1: For initial guess xo , a tolerance ε > 0, and for iterations n, set k = 0.
Step 2: Calculate

f (xk )
zk = xk − α .
f  (xk )
 
f (zk )
xk+1 = zk exp −α .
zk f  (zk )

Step 3: If |xk+1 − xk | < ε or k > n then stop.

Step 4: Set k → k + 1 and go to Step 2.

3. Convergence analysis

In this section, we discuss the convergence of Algorithms 1 and 2.

 Two-step methods for multiple zeros of non-linear equations 973

THEOREM 3.1 Let w be the root of a sufficiently differentiable function f : (a, b) ⊆ R → R

with multiplicity α. If xo is sufficiently close to w, then the iterative two-step method defined
by Algorithm 1 has fourth-order convergence.

The two-step method is given by

 
αf (xn )
zn = xn exp − , (3.1)
xn f  (xn )
f (zn )
xn+1 = zn − α . (3.2)
f  (zn )
From (3.1), we have:
 
f (xn )
zn = xn 1−α
xn f  (xn )
f (xn )
 xn − α . (3.3)
f  (xn )
Let w be the exact root of (1.1) with multiplicity α, and let en be the error at the nth
iteration. Then
en = xn − w.
Let
f (x) = (w − x)α g(x)
be the non-linear function with w as a root with multiplicity α. Now

f  (x) = −α(w − x)α−1 g(x) + (w − x)α g  (x).

Thus,
f (xn ) en  en −1
= 1 + A
f  (xn ) α α
en A A2 A3
= − 2 en2 + 3 en3 − 4 en4 + O(en5 ) (3.4)
α α α α
where A = g  (xn )/g(xn ).
Using (3.4), we have from (3.3)
 
en A A2 A3
zn = xn − α − 2 en2 + 3 en3 − 4 en4
α α α α
A 2 A2 3 A3 4
=w+ e − e + e + O(en5 ). (3.5)
α n α2 n α3 n
By the Taylor expansion about w, we have
 
A 2 A2 3 A3 4
f (zn ) = f w + en − 2 en + 3 en
α α α
 
A 2 A2 3 A3 4 A2 f  (w)
= f (w) + en − 2 en + 3 en f  (w) + 2 en4 + O(en5 )
α α α α 2
  
A 2 A2 3 A3 4 A2  
= f  (w) en − 2 en + 3 en + c2 2 en4 + O en5 , (3.6)
α α α α
974 N. A. Mir and N. Rafiq

where
1 f (k) (w)
ck = , k = 2, 3, . . .
k! f  (w)
Similarly,
 
  A A2 A3 4
f (zn ) = f w + en2 − 2 en3 + e
α α α3 n
   
A 2 A2 3 A3 4 A2 4  5
= f  (w) 1 + 2c2 e − e + e + 3c 3 2 n + O en .
e (3.7)
α n α 2 n
α 3 n
α

Dividing (3.6) by (3.7), we get

f (zn ) (A/α)en2 − (A2 /α 2 )en3 + (A3 /α 3 )en4 + c2 (A2 /α 2 )en4


=
f (zn ) 1 + 2c2 ((A/α)en2 − (A2 /α 2 )en3 + (A3 /α 3 )en4 ) + 3c3 (A2 /α 2 )en4
 
A 2 A2 3 A3 4 A2
= en − 2 en + 3 en + c2 2 en4
α α α α
   2
A 2 A 3 A3 4
2
A2 4 2A 4
× 1 − 2c2 e − e + e − 3c3 2 en + 4c2 2 en
α n α2 n α3 n α α
A 2 A2 A2 A3 A2  
= en − 2c2 2 en4 − 2 en3 + 3 en4 + c2 2 en4 + O en5
α α α α α
A A 2
A 3
A 2  
= en2 − c2 2 en4 + 3 en4 − 2 en3 + O en5 . (3.8)
α α α α

From (3.3), we get

f (xn ) A 2 A2 3 A3 4
xn+1 = zn − α = w + e − e + e
f  (xn ) α n α2 n α3 n
 
A 2 A2 4 A 3 4 A 2 3  
−α e − c2 2 en + 3 en − 2 en + O en5
α n α α α
A 2 A2 3 A3 4 A2 A3 A2 3  
=w+ en − 2 en + 3 en − Aen2 + c2 en4 − 2 en4 + en + O en5
α α α α α α
2  3 2 3 2
A 3 A A A A 3
 w + Aen2 − e + + c2 − 2 en4 − Aen2 + e , (3.9)
α n α3 α α α n

since α ≥ 2. This gives

 
A3 A2 A3
xn+1 − w = + c 2 − en4 + O(en5 )
α3 α α2

or
 
A3 A2 A3
en+1 = + c 2 − en4 + O(en5 ), (3.10)
α3 α α2
showing that the algorithm has fourth-order convergence. Similarly, convergence of order four
of the second algorithm can also be determined.
 Two-step methods for multiple zeros of non-linear equations 975

4. Numerical tests

Here, we give some numerical examples to test and illustrate the performance of our new
two-step methods for finding multiple zeros. We name our methods CLNT (Chen–Li Newton
Two-step) and NCLT (Newton Chen–Li Two-step). We have tested them for determining
the multiple zeros of algebraic as well as non-algebraic equations on a sufficient number of
examples to check their robustness and efficiency. We describe here, however, seven examples
from [1, 9, 10]. We consider here ε = 1.0E − 65 as the given tolerance, n as the maximum
number of iterations to be performed and |xi+1 − xi | < ∈ as the stopping criterion. Numerical
results are provided in tables 1–7 using Maple 7.0 from tables 1–3, we observe that, in general,
the ill-conditioned roots 1, 2, 3, 4 and −1, −2, −3 and −4 of polynomials of degree 50–100
are calculated in four to seven iterations with almost 64 digits accuracy. Table 4 describes the

Table 1. Example 1: (x − 1)20 (x − 2)15 (x − 3)10 (x − 4)5 [10].

Initial
point Correct up to
x0 Methods Iterations xn digits

1.5 NCLT 7 1 64
CLNT 4 63
2.5 NCLT 4 2 64
CLNT 4 64
3.5 NCLT 4 3 64
CLNT 4 64
4.4 NCLT 5 4 64
CLNT 5 64

Table 2. Example 2: (x + 1)20 (x + 2)15 (x + 3)10 (x + 4)5 [10].

Initial
point Correct up to
x0 Methods Iterations xn digits

−1.5 NCLT 7 −1 64
CLNT 4 63
−2.5 NCLT 4 −2 64
CLNT 4 64
−3.5 NCLT 4 −3 64
CLNT 4 64
−4.5 NCLT 5 −4 64
CLNT 5 64

Table 3. Example 3: (x − 1)40 (x − 2)30 (x − 3)20 (x − 4)10 [10].

Initial
point Correct up to
x0 Methods Iterations xn digits

1.5 NCLT 7 1 63
CLNT 4 64
2.5 NCLT 4 2 64
CLNT 4 64
3.5 NCLT 4 3 64
CLNT 4 64
4.5 NCLT 5 4 64
CLNT 5 62
976 N. A. Mir and N. Rafiq

Table 4. Example 4: [x − (0.3 + 0.6i)]100 [x − (0.1 + 0.7i)]200 [x − (0.7 + 0.5)]300

[x − (0.3 + 0.4i)]400 [10].

Initial
point Correct up to
x0 Methods Iterations xn digits

0.301 + 0.601i NCLT 3 0.3 + 0.6i 64

CLNT 3 64
0.100 + 0.702i NCLT 3 0.1 + 0.7i 64
CLNT 3 63
0.702 + 0.498i NCLT 3 0.7 + 0.5i 63
CLNT 3 64
0.289 + 0.400i NCLT 3 0.3 + 0.4i 64
CLNT 3 64

result for a polynomial of degree 1000 with complex coefficients and complex roots with huge
multiplicities. We obtained the roots on the third iteration getting almost 64 digits accuracy.
Table 5 provides numerical results for a polynomial of degree 44 with highly multiple and
clustered roots. We obtained the roots in one or two iterations with 40–64 digits accuracy.
Tables 6 and 7 give the numerical results for multiple zeros of non-algebraic equations having
multiple zeros. Here, we obtained the roots in three or four iterations getting 33–64 digits
accuracy.

Table 5. Example 5: (x − 0.9)18 (x − 1)10 (x − 1.1)16 [10].

Initial
point Correct up to
x0 Methods Iterations xn digits

0.89999999993 NCLT 2 0.9 64

CLNT 1 46
0.9999999993 NCLT 1 1 41
CLNT 1 46
1.9999999998 NCLT 1 1.1 40
CLNT 1 46

Table 6. Example 1: ex − x − 1 [1].

Initial
point Correct up to
x0 Methods Iterations Multiplicity xn digits

0.5 NCLT 5 2 0.0 ∗ 33

CLNT 5 ∗ 40

∗
Maximam accuracy.

Table 7. Example 2: (x − 1)(ex−1 − 1) [8].

Initial
point Correct up to
x0 Methods Iterations Multiplicity xn digits

0.5 NCLT 4 2 1.0 64

CLNT 3 ∗ 47

∗
Maximam accuracy.
 Two-step methods for multiple zeros of non-linear equations 977

5. Conclusion

We have established for the first time two new two-step iterative methods of order four for
finding multiple zeros of algebraic as well as non-algebraic equations. In view of the numerical
tests, it follows that our methods are very effective in determining the highly multiple ill-
conditioned zeros and nearly equal zeros of complex polynomial equations with high accuracy.
These are also very effective and efficient in determining multiple zeros of non-algebraic
equations, which shows the robustness of the methods.

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