New Exact Solutions of Differential Equations Derived by Fractional Calculus

Abstract

Fractional calculus generalizes the derivative and antiderivative operations of differential and integral calculus from integer orders to the entire complex plane. Methods are presented for using this generalized calculus with Laplace transforms of complex-order derivatives to solve analytically many differential equations in physics, facilitate numerical computations, and generate new infinite-series representations of functions. As examples, new exact analytic solutions of differential equations, including new generalized Bessel equations with complex-power-law variable coefficients, are derived.