"Phase Transition" in fractional differential equations

Abstract

The basic result in the theory of linear ODEs is that the dimension of the fundamental set of linearly independent solutions is equal to the order of equation. This view is typically extended from integer-order to fractional differential equations. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate that this expectation is incorrect and explain why. We show that linear fractional differential equations may admit additional linearly independent solutions beyond their order. This phenomenon occurs when the coefficients of the equation cross certain threshold values. This phase transition produces a hyper-dimensional fundamental set of solutions and offers new insight into fractional differential equations and leads to the revisions of the statements of initial and boundary value problems.

7 pages, 3 figures