Fractional calculus of periodic distributions

Abstract

Abstract Two approaches for defining fractional derivatives of periodic distributions are presented. The first is a distributional version of the Weyl fractional derivative in which a derivative of arbitrary order of a periodic distribution is defined via Fourier series. The second is based on the Grünwald-Letnikov formula for defining a fractional derivative as a limit of a fractional difference quotient. The equivalence of the two approaches is established and an application to a fractional diffusion equation, posed in a space of periodic distributions, is also discussed.