On time staggering for wave equations

Grid staggering for wave equations is a validated approach for many applications, as it generally enhances stability and accuracy. This paper is about time staggering. Our aim is to assess a fourth-order, explicit, time-staggered integration method from the literature, through a comparison with two alternative fourth-order, explicit methods. These are the classical Runge-Kutta method and a symmetric-composition method derived from symplectic Euler.