Variational principles in the frame of certain generalized fractional derivatives (Q2180326)

The fractional derivatives at play are \[ {}_a D^{\alpha, \rho} f(t) = \frac{1}{\Gamma(n - \alpha)} \Big(t^{1 - \rho}\frac{d}{dt}\Big)^n \int_a^t \Big( \frac{t^\rho - s^\rho}{\rho}\Big)^{n - \alpha - 1} f(s) \frac{ds}{s^{1 - \rho}} \] where $n - 1 \le \alpha < n$. For $\rho = 1$, this definition reduces to the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivatives \[ {}_a { \mathcal D}^\alpha f(t) = \frac{1}{\Gamma(n - \alpha)} \Big(\frac{d}{dt}\Big)^n \int_a^t (t - s)^{n -\alpha - 1} f(s)\, ds \] while taking the limit as $\rho \to 0$ one obtains the Hadamard fractional derivatives \[ {{}_a \mathcal H}^\alpha f(t) = \frac{1}{\Gamma(n - \alpha)}\Big( t \frac{d}{dt} \Big)^n \int_a^t \Big( \log \frac{t}{s}\Big)^{n - \alpha - 1} f(s) \frac{ds}{s } \, . \] The ${}_a D^{\alpha, \rho}$ are the left derivatives; for the right derivatives $D_b^{\alpha, \rho}$, the limits of integration are $t, b$. There is also a version of these derivatives where the differentiation sign is inside the integral. After some preliminary work (including an integration by parts formula), the authors proceed to the main objective, which is to deduce an Euler-Lagrange equation for extremals of the functional \[ J(y) = \int_a^b L(t, y(t),{}_a D^{\alpha, \rho}y(t)) \frac{dt}{t^{1 - \rho}} \, . \] with boundary conditions $y(a) = y_a\), \(y(b) = y_b$. The equation is applied to $L = \big({}_0 D^{\alpha, \rho} y(t) \big)^2 - V(y(t))$. There are also results for functionals involving several fractional derivatives.