Quadratic spline solution for boundary value problem of fractional order (Q664614)

The authors use methods based on quadratic polynomial spline functions to derive a numerical method for the solution of fractional boundary value problems of the form \[ D^{-\alpha} y'' (x) + p (x) y= g (x), \quad 0 \leq \alpha < 1, x \in [a,b], \] subject to boundary conditions \(y (a) = y(b) = 0\), where \(p\) and \(g: [a,b] \rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) are continuous and the operator \(D^\alpha\) represents the Caputo fractional derivative. This approach has certain advantages, viz. once the solution is computed, the information needed for spline interpolation between mesh points is available. Moreover, this approach not only provides continuous approximations to \(y(x)\) but also for \(y' (x)\) at every point of the range of integration. The convergence of the method is presented and some numerical results are provided to illustrate the applicability of the method.