AbstractWe develop an adaptive algorithm for large SDE systems, which automatically selects (quasi-)deterministic time steps for the semi-implicit Euler method, based on an a posteriori weak error estimate. Main tools to construct the a posteriori estimator are the representation of the weak approximation error via Kolmogorov’s backward equation, a priori bounds for its solution and the Clark–Ocone formula. For a certain class of SDE systems, we validate optimal weak convergence order 1 of the a posteriori estimator, and termination of the adaptive method based on it within $${{\mathcal {O}}}(\mathtt{Tol}^{-1})$$
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