A fractional differential quadrature method for fractional differential equations and fractional eigenvalue problems

Abstract

In this paper, based on the differential quadrature method (DQM), matrix operators are derived for fractional integration and Caputo differentiation. These operators generalize the efficient DQM to fractional calculus. The proposed fractional differential/integral quadrature method (FDIQM) is used to solve various types of fractional ordinary and partial differential equations. FDIQM unifies the solution of multi‐integer fractional‐order differential equations leading to significant simplification in the implementation. Numerous examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the operators. Other examples are presented to solve various fractional differential equations including time‐fractional sub‐diffusion equation, linear/nonlinear, and multiorder fractional differential equations. In addition, numerous boundary conditions are considered including mixed fractional derivatives. Further, a nonlinear fractional eigenvalue problem is solved efficiently, and its bifurcation diagrams are obtained. Comparisons between the proposed method and the existing ones are included, showing the ease of implementation, efficiency, and applicability of FDIQM.