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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Appl. Math. Stat., 20 February 2019
Sec. Statistical and Computational Physics
This article is part of the Research Topic Fractional Calculus and its Applications in Physics View all 10 articles

The Fractional Laguerre Equation: Series Solutions and Fractional Laguerre Functions

\r\nRasha ShatRasha Shat1Safa AlrefaiSafa Alrefai1Islam AlhamaydaIslam Alhamayda1Alaa SarhanAlaa Sarhan1Mohammed Al-Refai,*Mohammed Al-Refai1,2*
  • 1Department of Mathematical Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
  • 2Department of Mathematics, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan

In this paper, we propose a fractional generalization of the well-known Laguerre differential equation. We replace the integer derivative by the conformable derivative of order 0 < α < 1. We then apply the Frobenius method with the fractional power series expansion to obtain two linearly independent solutions of the problem. For certain eigenvalues, the infinite series solution truncate to obtain the singular and non-singular fractional Laguerre functions. We obtain the fractional Laguerre functions in closed forms, and establish their orthogonality result. The applicability of the new fractional Laguerre functions is illustrated.

1. Introduction

In recent years, there are interests in studying fractional Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problems. For instance, the fractional Bessel equation with applications was investigated in Okrasinski and Plociniczak [1, 2], where the fractional derivative is of the Riemann-Liouville type. In Abu Hammad and Khalil [3] the authors solved the fractional Legendre equation with conformable derivative and established the orthogonality property of the fractional Legendre functions. The applications of the fractional Legendre functions in solving fractional differential equations, were illustrated in Kazema et al. [4] and Syam and Al-Refai [5]. In this project we propose the following fractional generalization of the well-known Laguerre differential equation

xαD0αD0αy+(1-xα)D0αy+λy=0,  12<α<1,  x>0,    (1.1)

where D0α is the conformable derivative of order α. The conformable derivative was introduced recently in Khalil et al. [6], and below are the definition and main properties of the derivative.

Definition 1.1. For a function f :(0, ∞) → ℝ, the conformable derivative of order 0 < α ≤ 1 of f at x > 0, is defined by

(D0αf)(x)=limϵ0f(x+ϵx1-α)-f(x)ϵ,

and the derivative at x = 0 is defined by (D0αf)(0)=limx0+(D0αf)(x).

The conformable derivative is a local derivative which has a physical and a geometrical interpretations and potential applications in physics and engineering [7, 8]. It satisfies the nice properties of the integer derivative such as, the product rule, the quotient rule, and the chain rule, and it holds that

1. D0αC=0,  C,

2. D0αxp=p xp-α,

3. D0αsin(1αxα)=cos(1αxα),

4. D0αcos(1αxα)=-sin(1αxα),

5. D0αe1αxα=e1αxα.

6. 0af(x)dα(x)=0axα1f(x)dx.

For more details about the conformable derivative we refer the reader to Abdeljawad [9] and Khalil et al. [6]. We mention here that even though the conformable is a nonlocal derivative (see [10, 11]), the simplicity and applications of the derivative make it of interests. Also, the applications of the obtained Fractional Leguerre functions are indicated in this manuscript. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: In section 2, we apply the Frobenius method together with the fractional series solution to solve the above equation and to obtain the fractional Laguerre functions. In section 3, we establish the orthogonality result of the fractional Laguerre functions and present the fractional Laguerre functions for several eigenvalues. Finally, we close up with some concluding remarks in section 4.

2. The Series Solution

The series solution is commonly used to solve various types of fractional differential equations (see [1216]). Since x = 0, is α-regular singular point of Equation (1.1), see [17], we apply the well-known Frobenius method to obtain a solution of the form

y=n=0anxα(n+r),

where the values of r will be determined. We have

              D0αy=n=0α(n+r)anxα(n+r1),                       =αa0rxα(r1)+n=0α(n+r+1)an+1xα(n+r),       xαD0αy=n=0α(n+r)anxα(n+r),     D0αD0αy=n=0α2(n+r)(n+r1)anxα(n+r2),xαD0αD0αy=n=0α2(n+r)(n+r1)anxα(n+r1),                      =α2r(r1)a0xα(r1)                     +n=0α2(n+r+1)(n+r)an+1 xα(n+r).

By substituting the above results in Equation (1.1) we have

0=α2r(r1)a0xα(r1)+n=0α2(n+r+1)(n+r)an+1 xα(n+r)   +αa0rxα(r1)+n=0α(n+r+1)an+1xα(n+r)   n=0α(n+r)anxα(n+r)+λn=0anxα(n+r).

The coefficients of xα(r−1) will lead to

a0αr(α(r-1)+1)=0.    (2.1)

Because α ≠ 0, and a0 = 0, will lead to the zero solution, we have

r=0, r=1-1α.    (2.2)

We start with r = 0, we have

α2n(n+1)an+1+α(n+1)an+1-αnan+λan=0,

or

an+1=αn-λα(n+1)(αn+1) an,  n0.    (2.3)

Lemma 2.1. The coefficients an in Equation (2.3) satisfy

an+1=j=0n(jα-λ)αn+1(n+1)!j=0n(jα+1) a0,  n0.    (2.4)

Proof: The proof can be easily obtained by iterating the recursion in (2.3) and applying induction arguments.

Remark 2.1. For α = 1, the recursion relation in (2.4) will reduce to

an+1=-λ(1-λ)(2-λ)(n-λ)[(n+1)!]2 a0,    (2.5)

which is exactly the recursion relation that has been obtained in solving the Laguerre equation with integer derivative.

For r=-1α+1, we have for n ≥ 0,

an+1=α(n+r)λα(n+r+1)(α[n+r]+1) an,            =α(n+1)(λ+1)α(n+1)(α[n+2]1) an.    (2.6)

By iterating the recursion in (2.6) and applying induction arguments, we have

Lemma 2.2. The coefficients an in Equation (2.6) satisfy

an+1=j=1n+1(jα-[λ+1])αn+1(n+1)!j=2n+2(jα-1) a0,  n0.    (2.7)

Remark 2.2. By applying the Frobenius method to the regular Laguerre equation with integer derivative α = 1, we obtain only one value of r = 0, which produces only one solution. Here with the fractional case, we obtain two values of r=0,1-1α, that will produce two linearly independent solutions of the problem as we will see later.

Now, in Equation (2.4), if we choose α = αm and λ = λm such that

mαm=λm,

for some integer m, then

am+1=am+2==0,

and the infinite series solution will truncate to obtain the finite sum

u(x)=n=0manxnαm=a0(1+n=1mj=0n1(jαmλm)αmnn!j=0n1(jαm+1)xnαm)        =a0Lm,αm0(x),

where Lm,αm0(x) is the non-singular fractional Laguerre function of order m. Since

j=0n1(jαmλm)=j=0n1(jαmmαm)=j=0n1αmj=0n1(jm)                                      =αmnj=0n1(jm),

then

Lm,αm0(x)=1+n=1mj=0n-1(j-m)n!j=0n-1(jαm+1)xnαm.    (2.8)

Analogously, in Equation (2.7), if we choose α = αm and λ = λm such that

mαm=λm+1,

then

am=am+1==0,

and the infinite series solution will truncate to obtain the solution

u(x)=n=0m-1anxαm(n-1αm+1)=x-1n=0m-1anxαm(n+1)        =a0Lm-1,αm1(x),

where

Lm1,αm1(x) = x1(xmα+n=1m1j=1n(jαm(λm+1))αmnn!j=2n+1(jαm1)xαm(n+1)),                              =xαm1(1+n=1m1j=1n(jαmmαm)αmnn!j=2n+1(jαm1)xαmn),                             =xαm1(1+n=1m1j=1n(jm)n!j=2n+1(jαm1)xαmn),    (2.9)

is the fractional singular Laguerre function of order m − 1.

Remark 2.3. If we substitute αm = 1, then

Lm,10(x)=Lm,11(x)=1+n=1mj=0n-1(j-m)n!j=0n-1(j+1).

Since j=0n-1(j+1)=n!, and j=0n-1(j-m)=(-1)nm!(m-n)!, we have

Lm,10(x)=Lm,11(x)=1+n=1m(-1)mm!(n!)2(m-n)!,

which is the expansion of the Laguerre polynomial Lm(x).

3. The Fractional Laguerre Functions

We start with the orthogonality property of the fractional Laguerre functions (Lm,αm(x)), m = 0, 1, 2, ⋯ . Here by Lm,αm(x) we mean the non-singular and singular Laguerre functions obtained in (2.8) and (2.9).

Theorem 3.1. The fractional Laguerre functions (Lm,αm(x)), m = 0, 1, 2, ⋯  are orthogonal on (0, ∞) with respect to the weight function μ(x)=e-xαα,i.e.,

0e-xααLm,αm(x)Ln,αn(x)dx=0, mn.

Proof: One can easily prove that Equation (1.1) can be written as

D0α(xe-xααD0αy)=-λx1-αe-xααy.    (3.1)

Thus, the equation is of a special type of the fractional Sturm-liouville eigenvalue problem

D0α(p(x)D0αy)+q(x)y=-λw(x)y,

where p(x)=xe-xαα, q(x)=0 and w(x)=x1-αe-xαα. Using the fractional Lagrange Identity obtained in Al-Refai and Abdeljawad [18], we have

 (λmλn)0w(x)Lm,αmLn,αndα(x)=p(x)(Ln,αnD0αLm,αmLm,αmD0αLn,αn)|0.    (3.2)

We have p(0) = 0, and

limxx1-αe-xαα(Ln,αnD0αLm,αm-Lm,αmD0αLn,αn)(x)=0.

Thus the right hand side of Equation (3.2) equals zero which together with λm ≠ λn will lead to

0w(x)Lm,αmLn,αndα(x)=0x1αexααLm,αm(x)Ln,αn(x)xα1dx                                              =0exααLm,αm(x)Ln,αn(x)dx=0,    (3.3)

and hence the result.

Remark 3.1. Since the fractional Laguerre functions are orthogonal, they can be used as a basis of the spectral method to study fractional differential equations analytically and numerically. They also can be used as a basis of the fractional Gauss-Laguerre quadrature for approximating the value of integrals of the form

0e-xααf(x)dx.

Remark 3.2. New types of improper integrals are determined using the orthogonality property which are not known before, such as

0(1-xα)e-xααdx=0,  L0,α00(x)=1,L1,α10(x)=1-xα1,0x2(α-1)(1-12α-1xα)e-xααdx=0,L0,α01(x)=xα0-1,L1,α11(x)=xα1-1(1-12α1-1xα1),

In the following we present the singular and non-singular fractional Laguerre functions of several orders.

L0,α00(x)=1,L1,α10(x)=1xα1L2,α20(x)=12xα2+1α2+1x2α2L3,α30(x)=13xα3+3α3+1x2α31(α3+1)(2α3+1)x3α3.L0,α01(x)=xα01,L1,α11(x)=xα11(112α11xα1),L2,α21(x)=xα21(122α21xα2+1(2α21)(3α21)x2α2),L3,α31(x)=xα31(132α31xα3+3(2α31)(3α31)x2α3                    1(2α31)(3α31)(4α31)x3α3).

Figures 1, 2 depict the non-singular and singular fractional Laguerre functions of several orders for α = 0.8. Figure 3 depicts L2,α0 for several values of α. One can see that, as α approaches 1, the non-singular fractional Laguerre functions approach the Laguerre polynomial of degree 2.

FIGURE 1
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Figure 1. A plot of L0,α0,L1,α0,L2,α0,L3,α0 for α = 0.8.

FIGURE 2
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Figure 2. A plot of L0,α1,L1,α1,L2,α1,L3,α1 for α = 0.8.

FIGURE 3
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Figure 3. A plot of L2,α0, for α = 0.8, 0.9, 0.99, 1.

4. Conclusion

We have considered the fractional Laguerre equation with conformable derivative. We obtained two linearly independent solutions using the fractional series solution and Frobenius method. The first non-singular solution is analytic on (0, ∞), and the second singular solution has a singularity at x = 0. For certain eigenvalues, these infinite solutions truncate to obtain the fractional Laguerre functions. Because of the orthogonality property of the fractional Laguerre functions, they can be used as a basis of the spectral method to study fractional differential equations, or as a basis of the Gauss-Laguerre quadrature for evaluating certain integrals. The obtained results coincide with the ones of the regular Laguerre polynomials as the derivative α approaches 1.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the United Arab Emirates University under the SURE+ grant no. 31S291262 SURE+2017.

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Keywords: fractional differential equations, Laguerre equation, conformable fractional derivative, series solution, Frobenius method

Citation: Shat R, Alrefai S, Alhamayda I, Sarhan A and Al-Refai M (2019) The Fractional Laguerre Equation: Series Solutions and Fractional Laguerre Functions. Front. Appl. Math. Stat. 5:11. doi: 10.3389/fams.2019.00011

Received: 10 February 2018; Accepted: 04 February 2019;
Published: 20 February 2019.

Edited by:

Dumitru Baleanu, University of Craiova, Romania

Reviewed by:

Eqab Mahmoud Rabei, Al al-Bayt University, Jordan
Devendra Kumar, University of Rajasthan, India
Aliyu Isa Aliyu, Federal University, Dutse, Nigeria

Copyright © 2019 Shat, Alrefai, Alhamayda, Sarhan and Al-Refai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Mohammed Al-Refai, bV9hbHJlZmFpQHl1LmVkdS5qbw==

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