Fractional calculus, completely monotonic functions, a generalized Mittag-Leffler function and phase-space consistency of separable augmented densities

Abstract

Under the separability assumption on the augmented density, a distribution function can be always constructed for a spherical population with the specified density and anisotropy profile. Then, a question arises, under what conditions the distribution constructed as such is non-negative everywhere in the entire accessible subvolume of the phase-space. We rediscover necessary conditions on the augmented density expressed with fractional calculus. The condition on the radius part R(r^2) -- whose logarithmic derivative is the anisotropy parameter -- is equivalent to R(1/w)/w being a completely monotonic function whereas the condition on the potential part is stated as its derivative up to the order not greater than 3/2-b being non-negative (where b is the central limiting value for the anisotropy parameter). We also derive the set of sufficient conditions on the separable augmented density for the non-negativity of the distribution, which generalizes the condition derived for the generalized Cuddeford system by Ciotti & Morganti to arbitrary separable systems. This is applied for the case when the anisotropy is parameterized by a monotonic function of the radius of Baes & Van Hese. The resulting criteria are found based on the complete monotonicity of generalized Mittag-Leffler functions.