A Comparison between the Stabilization Method and the Post-stabilization Method

A detailed discussion on Baumgarte's stabilization method and Chin's post-stabilization method is carried out together with a numerical comparison. The numerical accuracy can be increased and the numerical stability can be improved by combining the classical numerical method with either of the two stabilization methods. Assuming optimal stabilizing parameter the accuracy is not the same in the two methods and it is not certain which one is the more accurate. While noting the reasons underlying the post-stabilization scheme, it is inadvisable, when applying the latter, to use step lengths greater than are recommended by the original classical integrator with no stabilization.