The Fractional Calculus

In the last three decades, fractional calculus has broken into the field of mathematical analysis, both at the theoretical level and at the level of its applications. In essence, the fractional calculus theory is a mathematical analysis tool applied to the study of integrals and derivatives of arbitrary order, which unifies and generalizes the classical notions of differentiation and integration. These fractional and derivative integrals, which until not many years ago had been used in purely mathematical contexts, have been revealed as instruments with great potential to model problems in various scientific fields, such as: fluid mechanics, viscoelasticity, physics, biology, chemistry, dynamical systems, signal processing or entropy theory.

When a new extraordinary and outstanding theory is stated, it has to face criticism and skepticism, because it is beyond the usual concept. The fractional calculus though not new, was not discussed or developed for a long time, particularly for lack of its applications to real life problems. It is extraordinary because it does not deal with ‘ordinary’ differential calculus. It is outstanding because it can now be applied to situations where existing theories fail to give satisfactory results. In this book not only mathematical abstractions are discussed in a lucid manner, but also several practical applications are given particularly for system identification, description and then efficient controls.

The book investigates the fractional calculus-based approaches and their benefits to adopting in complex real-time areas. Another objective is to provide initial solutions for new areas where fractional theory has yet to verify the expertise. The book focuses on the latest scientific interest and illustrates the basic idea of general fractional calculus with MATLAB codes. This book is ideal for researchers working on fractional calculus theory both in simulation and hardware. Researchers from academia and industry working or starting research in applied fractional calculus methods will find the book most useful. The scope of this book covers most of the theoretical and practical studies on linear and nonlinear systems using fractional-order integro-differential operators.