A simple mathematical model inspired by the Purkinje cells: from delayed travelling waves to fractional diffusion (Q1670461)

The purpose of this article is to give a derivation of the fractional diffusion equation by using elementary mathematical methods. The concept anomalous diffusion has recently become more popular to describe complex systems, where the simpler Brownian motion model for diffusion has proven inadequate. The goal is not to make a complete investigation of the intricate phenomena needed to explain the Purkinje cells. Instead, the superposition of the corresponding delays produces a fractional operator in the sense of Caputo. First, integration by parts in the Caputo derivative is outlined. Then follows travelling waves in the ramified medium in terms of Riemann sums.