Weighted Cauchy problem: fractional versus integer order (Q2146572)

The authors consider the weighted Cauchy nonlinear fractional differential equation given by \[ \begin{cases} D_{t_0}^\alpha x(t)= F(t,x(t))\text{ a.e. on }\left[ t_0, b \right], \\ D_{t_0}^{\alpha - k}x(t_0^+) = b_k \text{ for }1\leqslant k \leqslant n - 1, \\ \lim_{t \to t_0^ + } (t - t_0)^{n - \alpha} \left[ x(t) - J_{t_0}^\alpha F(t,x(t)) \right] = c_n \end{cases}\tag{0.1} \] where \(\alpha >0\) is fixed \(b_k, c_n \in \mathbb{R}\), \(k = \left\{ 1,2,3,\dots,n - 1 \right\}\), and \(J_{t_0}^\alpha, D_{t_0}^\alpha\) are Riemann-Liouville fractional integral and differential operators, respectively. They first establish the equivalence of problem \((0.1)\) to the Volterra integral equation \[ x(t) = \sum_{k = 1}^{n - 1} \frac{b_k(t - t_0)^{\alpha - k}}{\Gamma (\alpha - k + 1)} + c_n(t - t_0)^{\alpha - n} + J_{t_0}^\alpha F(t, x(t)) \text{ a.e. on }\left[ t_0, b \right]. \] Next they established an existence and uniqueness result for \((0.1)\) by assuming a Lipschitz condition for \(F\) in that set up. The space in which the problem is discussed is \(L'[a,b]\). Further, they give criteria when the weighted Cauchy problem reduces to an unweighted Cauchy problem. They illustrate their work with examples.