There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Abstract Variable-order (VO) fractional differential equations (FDEs) with a time (t), space (x) or other variables dependent order have been successfully applied to investigate time and/or space dependent dynamics. This study aims to provide a survey of the recent relevant literature and findings in primary definitions, models, numerical methods and their applications. This review first offers an overview over the existing definitions proposed from different physical and application backgrounds, and then reviews several widely used numerical schemes in simulation. Moreover, as a powerful mathematical tool, the VO-FDE models have been remarkably acknowledged as an alternative and precise approach in effectively describing real-world phenomena. Hereby, we also make a brief summary on different physical models and typical applications. This review is expected to help the readers for the selection of appropriate definition, model and numerical method to solve specific physical and engineering problems.

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A review on variable-order fractional differential equations: mathematical foundations, physical models, numerical methods and applications

On an accurate discretization of a variable-order fractional reaction-diffusion equation

Variable-order fractional operators were conceived and mathematically formalized only in recent years. The possibility of formulating evolutionary governing equations has led to the successful application of these operators to the modelling of complex real-world problems ranging from mechanics, to transport processes, to control theory, to biology. Variable-order fractional calculus (VO-FC) is a relatively less known branch of calculus that offers remarkable opportunities to simulate interdisciplinary processes. Recognizing this untapped potential, the scientific community has been intensively exploring applications of VO-FC to the modelling of engineering and physical systems. This review is intended to serve as a starting point for the reader interested in approaching this fascinating field. We provide a concise and comprehensive summary of the progress made in the development of VO-FC analytical and computational methods with application to the simulation of complex physical systems. More specifically, following a short introduction of the fundamental mathematical concepts, we present the topic of VO-FC from the point of view of practical applications in the context of scientific modelling.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspa.2019.0498

Applications of variable-order fractional operators: a review

Finite-time stability and synchronization of memristor-based fractional-order fuzzy cellular neural networks

Optimal variable-order fractional PID controllers for dynamical systems

Numerical solution of multi-order fractional differential equations with multiple delays via spectral collocation methods

Efficient modified Chebyshev differentiation matrices for fractional differential equations

Coefficient of restitution in fractional viscoelastic compliant impacts using fractional Chebyshev collocation

This paper presents an algorithm to obtain numerically stable differentiation matrices for approximating the left- and right-sided Caputo-fractional derivatives. The proposed differentiation matrices named fractional Chebyshev differentiation matrices are obtained using stable recurrence relations at the Chebyshev–Gauss–Lobatto points. These stable recurrence relations overcome previous limitations of the conventional methods such as the size of fractional differentiation matrices due to the exponential growth of round-off errors. Fractional Chebyshev collocation method as a framework for solving fractional differential equations with multi-order Caputo derivatives is also presented. The numerical stability of spectral methods for linear fractional-order differential equations (FDEs) is studied by using the proposed framework. Furthermore, the proposed fractional Chebyshev differentiation matrices obtain the fractional-order derivative of a function with spectral convergence. Therefore, they can be used in various spectral collocation methods to solve a system of linear or nonlinear multi-ordered FDEs. To illustrate the true advantages of the proposed fractional Chebyshev differentiation matrices, the numerical solutions of a linear FDE with a highly oscillatory solution, a stiff nonlinear FDE, and a fractional chaotic system are given. In the first, second, and forth examples, a comparison is made with the solution obtained by the proposed method and the one obtained by the Adams–Bashforth–Moulton method. It is shown the proposed fractional differentiation matrices are highly efficient in solving all the aforementioned examples.

Arman Dabiri

Papers

Optimal variable-order fractional PID controllers for dynamical systems

Numerical solution of multi-order fractional differential equations with multiple delays via spectral collocation methods

Efficient modified Chebyshev differentiation matrices for fractional differential equations

Coefficient of restitution in fractional viscoelastic compliant impacts using fractional Chebyshev collocation

Stable fractional Chebyshev differentiation matrix for the numerical solution of multi-order fractional differential equations