Propagation Speed of the Maximum of the Fundamental Solution to the Fractional Diffusion-Wave Equation

In this paper, the one-dimensional time-fractional diffusion-wave equation with the fractional derivative of order $1 \le \alpha \le 2$ is revisited. This equation interpolates between the diffusion and the wave equations that behave quite differently regarding their response to a localized disturbance: whereas the diffusion equation describes a process, where a disturbance spreads infinitely fast, the propagation speed of the disturbance is a constant for the wave equation. For the time fractional diffusion-wave equation, the propagation speed of a disturbance is infinite, but its fundamental solution possesses a maximum that disperses with a finite speed. In this paper, the fundamental solution of the Cauchy problem for the time-fractional diffusion-wave equation, its maximum location, maximum value, and other important characteristics are investigated in detail. To illustrate analytical formulas, results of numerical calculations and plots are presented. Numerical algorithms and programs used to produce plots are discussed.Comment: 22 pages 6 figures. This paper has been presented by F. Mainardi at the International Workshop: Fractional Differentiation and its Applications (FDA12) Hohai University, Nanjing, China, 14-17 May 201

Distributed order fractional constitutive stress-strain relation in wave propagation modeling

Distributed order fractional model of viscoelastic body is used in order to describe wave propagation in infinite media. Existence and uniqueness of fundamental solution to the generalized Cauchy problem, corresponding to fractional wave equation, is studied. The explicit form of fundamental solution is calculated, and wave propagation speed, arising from solution's support, is found to be connected with the material properties at initial time instant. Existence and uniqueness of the fundamental solutions to the fractional wave equations corresponding to four thermodynamically acceptable classes of linear fractional constitutive models, as well as to power type distributed order model, are established and explicit forms of the corresponding fundamental solutions are obtained

On the Speed of Spread for Fractional Reaction-Diffusion Equations

The fractional reaction diffusion equation u_t + Au = g(u) is discussed, where A is a fractional differential operator on the real line with order \alpha between 0 and 2, the C^1 function g vanishes at 0 and 1, and either g is non-negative on (0,1) or g < 0 near 0. In the case of non-negative g, it is shown that solutions with initial support on the positive half axis spread into the left half axis with unbounded speed if g satisfies some weak growth condition near 0 in the case \alpha > 1, or if g is merely positive on a sufficiently large interval near 1 in the case \alpha < 1. On the other hand, it shown that solutions spread with finite speed if g'(0) < 0. The proofs use comparison arguments and a new family of traveling wave solutions for this class of problems