is the fractional derivative (if q > 0) or fractional integral (if q < 0). If q = 0, then the q-th differintegral of a function is the function itself. In the context of fractional integration and differentiation, there are several definitions of the differintegral.
Standard definitions
The four most common forms are:
The Riemann–Liouville differintegralThis is the simplest and easiest to use, and consequently it is the most often used. It is a generalization of the Cauchy formula for repeated integration to arbitrary order. Here, Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "http://localhost:6011/en.wikipedia.org/v1/":): {\displaystyle n = \lceil q \rceil}
.
The Grunwald–Letnikov differintegralThe Grunwald–Letnikov differintegral is a direct generalization of the definition of a derivative. It is more difficult to use than the Riemann–Liouville differintegral, but can sometimes be used to solve problems that the Riemann–Liouville cannot.
The Weyl differintegral This is formally similar to the Riemann–Liouville differintegral, but applies to periodic functions, with integral zero over a period.
The Caputo differintegralIn opposite to the Riemann-Liouville differintegral, Caputo derivative of a constant is equal to zero. Moreover, a form of the Laplace transform allows to simply evaluate the initial conditions by computing finite, integer-order derivatives at point .
Definitions via transforms
The definitions of fractional derivatives given by Liouville, Fourier, and Grunwald and Letnikov coincide.[1] They can be represented via Laplace, Fourier transforms or via Newton series expansion.
Using the continuous Fourier transform, in Fourier space, differentiation transforms into a multiplication:
So,
which generalizes to
Under the bilateral Laplace transform, here denoted by Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "http://localhost:6011/en.wikipedia.org/v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{L}}
and defined as , differentiation transforms into a multiplication
Generalizing to arbitrary order and solving for , one obtains
Representation via Newton series is the Newton interpolation over consecutive integer orders:
For fractional derivative definitions described in this section, the following identities hold:
In general, composition (or semigroup) rule is a desirable property, but is hard to achieve mathematically and hence is not always completely satisfied by each proposed operator;[3] this forms part of the decision making process on which one to choose:
Miller, Kenneth S. (1993). Ross, Bertram (ed.). An Introduction to the Fractional Calculus and Fractional Differential Equations. Wiley. ISBN0-471-58884-9.
Oldham, Keith B.; Spanier, Jerome (1974). The Fractional Calculus; Theory and Applications of Differentiation and Integration to Arbitrary Order. Mathematics in Science and Engineering. Vol. V. Academic Press. ISBN0-12-525550-0.
Podlubny, Igor (1998). Fractional Differential Equations. An Introduction to Fractional Derivatives, Fractional Differential Equations, Some Methods of Their Solution and Some of Their Applications. Mathematics in Science and Engineering. Vol. 198. Academic Press. ISBN0-12-558840-2.
Carpinteri, A.; Mainardi, F., eds. (1998). Fractals and Fractional Calculus in Continuum Mechanics. Springer-Verlag. ISBN3-211-82913-X.