On the Generalized Fractional Laplacian

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this paper is, for the first time, to extend the fractional Laplacian (−△) s u(x) over the space Ck (Rn ) (which contains S(Rn ) as a proper subspace) for all s > 0 and s ≠ 1, 2, …, based on the normalization in distribution theory, Pizzetti’s formula and surface integrals in Rn . We further present two theorems showing that our extended fractional Laplacian is continuous at the end points 1, 2, … . Two illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate computational techniques for obtaining the fractional Laplacian using special functions, Cauchy’s residue theorem and integral identities. An application to defining the Riesz derivative in the classical sense at odd numbers is also considered at the end.