Description
Book SynopsisFractional calculus is a collection of relatively little-known mathematical results concerning generalizations of differentiation and integration to noninteger orders. While these results have been accumulated over centuries in various branches of mathematics, they have until recently found little appreciation or application in physics and other mathematically oriented sciences. This situation is beginning to change, and there are now a growing number of research areas in physics which employ fractional calculus.This volume provides an introduction to fractional calculus for physicists, and collects easily accessible review articles surveying those areas of physics in which applications of fractional calculus have recently become prominent.
Table of ContentsAn introduction to fractional calculus, P.L. Butzer & U. Westphal; fractional time evolution, R. Hilfer; fractional powers of infinitesimal generators of semigroups, U. Westphal; fractional differences, derivatives and fractal time series, B.J. West and P. Grigolini; fractional kinetics of Hamiltonian chaotic systems, G.M. Zaslavsky; polymer science applications of path integration, integral equations, and fractional calculus, J.F. Douglas; applications to problems in polymer physics and rheology, H. Schiessel et al; applications of fractional calculus and regular variation in thermodynamics, R. Hilfer.
