Laplace transform

Abstract: In the paper, we present a new definition of fractional deriva tive with a smooth kernel which takes on two different representations for the temporal and spatial variable. The first works on the time variables; thus it is suitable to use th e Laplace transform. The second definition is related to the spatial va riables, by a non-local fractional derivative, for which it is more convenient to work with the Fourier transform. The interest for this new approach with a regular kernel was born from the prospect that there is a class of non-local systems, which have the ability to descri be the material heterogeneities and the fluctuations of diff erent scales, which cannot be well described by classical local theories or by fractional models with singular kernel.

Abstract: The study of waves can be traced back to antiquity where philosophers, such as Pythagoras (c.560-480 BC), studied the relation of pitch and length of string in musical instruments. However, it was not until the work of Giovani Benedetti (1530-90), Isaac Beeckman (1588-1637) and Galileo (1564-1642) that the relationship between pitch and frequency was discovered. This started the science of acoustics, a term coined by Joseph Sauveur (1653-1716) who showed that strings can vibrate simultaneously at a fundamental frequency and at integral multiples that he called harmonics. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was the first to calculate the speed of sound in his Principia. However, he assumed isothermal conditions so his value was too low compared with measured values. This discrepancy was resolved by Laplace (1749-1827) when he included adiabatic heating and cooling effects. The first analytical solution for a vibrating string was given by Brook Taylor (1685-1731). After this, advances were made by Daniel Bernoulli (1700-82), Leonard Euler (1707-83) and Jean d’Alembert (1717-83) who found the first solution to the linear wave equation, see section (3.2). Whilst others had shown that a wave can be represented as a sum of simple harmonic oscillations, it was Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) who conjectured that arbitrary functions can be represented by the superposition of an infinite sum of sines and cosines now known as the Fourier series. However, whilst his conjecture was controversial and not widely accepted at the time, Dirichlet subsequently provided a proof, in 1828, that all functions satisfying Dirichlet’s conditions (i.e. non-pathological piecewise continuous) could be represented by a convergent Fourier series. Finally, the subject of classical acoustics was laid down and presented as a coherent whole by John William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh, 1832-1901) in his treatise Theory of Sound. The science of modern acoustics has now moved into such diverse areas as sonar, auditoria, electronic amplifiers, etc.

Abstract: A continued-fraction expansion of the Laplace transform of the time-correlation functions is obtained, which enables us to express the generalized susceptibilities and the transport coefficients in terms of the static correlation functions of a set of quantities. This expansion has a different feature from the moment and cumulant expansions, and has a convenient form to introduce the long-time approximation as well as the short-time approximation. Its ap­ plication to the anomalous relaxation and transport phenomena near the second-order phase transition points is discussed An expansion formula is also obtained for the time evolution of dynamical quantities in order to describe the various modes of motion involved according to their characteristic time constants. These two expansions are closely related to the time-correlation function formalism of irreversible processes, and allow us to have physical intuition in calculating dissipative properties.