Introduction to fractional differential equations (Q1622662)

The book is devoted to the introduction to the theory of fractional differential equations. Recent decades have seen tremendous work flow in this field with several applications. The fractional calculus feeds to this theory which was developed long ago but the application is quite new. It is a generalization of integrals and derivatives of integer order. It has been seen that several times the integer order systems fails to describe the dynamics of many systems, which is one of the main motivation to consider fractional order system. Some examples of such systems are anomalous diffusion, Scott Blair law and fractional population dynamics etc. \par This book covers the fundamental topics of fractional differential equations. The chapterwise analysis is as follows: Chapter 1 is devoted to the special functions, which plays very important role in the theory of fractional differential equations. The focus here is on Gamma, Beta, integral inequalities and Mittag-Leffler functions. The authors present important results related to these functions. \par The focus of Chapter 2 is on fractional derivatives and integrals. In this chapter, authors discuss the concept of Riemann-Liouville integral (R-L), R-L derivative and Caputo derivative. Several important results have been mentioned such as the exponential property of R-L integral, linearity property and many properties of both fractional derivatives. The important connection between R-L and Caputo derivative is also discussed. \par Chapter 3 is fully devoted to the theory of Laplace transform which plays a crucial role in the theory of fractional differential equations. The inversion of Laplace is discussed. Also, the Laplace transformation of fractional derivatives is discussed along with codes for numerical simulations. \par In Chapter 4, the authors present results about fractional differential equations of linear and nonlinear kind. The existence and uniqueness results for initial value problems are discussed. For nonlinear equations, Adomian decomposition method, method of perturbation are discussed in detail with maple and mathematica code given for numerical illustrations. For nonlinear equations, the method of successive approximation and the method of Laplace transform are discussed along with maple and mathematica codes too. This chapter is very useful for beginners who are interested in numerical treatment of fractional differential equations. \par Chapter 5 is devoted to the Cornu fractional systems. In this chapter, cos and sine fractional of type Frensel are discussed. The Fresnel integrals are two transcendental functions used in optics. The Cornu fractional systems and curves, generalized Cornu systems have been elaborated. Such system on plane, sphere and cones are discussed in detail with numerical codes given. Further, the power series method is explored in which the Müntz theorem, Lane-Emden equation, Taylor series method and some generalized equations are discussed along with numerical codes. In the last, Lotka system and Lorenz fractional attractor with numerical code have been discussed. \par The last chapter of this book is fully devoted to the numerical methods of nonlinear fractional differential equation such as variational iteration method, least squares method, Galerkin method, and Euler's method. The methods are illustrated with several examples with given maple and mathematica codes for illustrations. \par Overall, the book is written nicely and useful as an introductory book on fractional differential equations. Important references are also provided at the end of each chapters. The main focus of the book is numerical methods. The book provides maple and mathematica codes, which can be very helpful to the readers interested in numerical simulations of such systems.