In this book, not only are mathematical abstractions discussed in a lucid manner, but also several practical applications are given particularly for system identification, description and then efficient controls. The reader gets a feeling of the wide applicability of fractional calculus in the field of science and engineering. With this book, a starter can understand the concepts of this emerging field with a minimal effort and basic mathematics.

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.

Fractional-order Systems and Controls details the use of fractional calculus in the description and modeling of systems, and in a range of control design and practical applications. It is largely self-contained, covering the fundamentals of fractional calculus together with some analytical and numerical techniques and providing MATLAB® codes for the simulation of fractional-order control (FOC) systems. Many different FOC schemes are presented for control and dynamic systems problems. Practical material relating to a wide variety of applications is also provided. All the control schemes and applications are presented in the monograph with either system simulation results or real experimental results, or both. Fractional-order Systems and Controls provides readers with a basic understanding of FOC concepts and methods, so they can extend their use of FOC in other industrial system applications, thereby expanding their range of disciplines by exploiting this versatile new set of control techniques.

In the last two decades, fractional (or non integer) differentiation has played a very important role in various fields such as mechanics, electricity, chemistry, biology, economics, control theory and signal and image processing. For example, in the last three fields, some important considerations such as modelling, curve fitting, filtering, pattern recognition, edge detection, identification, stability, controllability, observability and robustness are now linked to long-range dependence phenomena. Similar progress has been made in other fields listed here. The scope of the book is thus to present the state of the art in the study of fractional systems and the application of fractional differentiation. As this volume covers recent applications of fractional calculus, it will be of interest to engineers, scientists, and applied mathematicians.

When a new extraordinary and outstanding theory is stated, it has to face criticism and skeptism, 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 application 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, with physical mathematical and geometrical explanations, but also several practical applications are given particularly for system identification, description and then efficient controls. The normal physical laws like, transport theory, electrodynamics, equation of motions, elasticity, viscosity, and several others of are based on ‘ordinary’ calculus. In this book these physical laws are generalized in fractional calculus contexts; taking, heterogeneity effect in transport background, the space having traps or islands, irregular distribution of charges, non-ideal spring with mass connected to a pointless-mass ball, material behaving with viscous as well as elastic properties, system relaxation with and without memory, physics of random delay in computer network; and several others; mapping the reality of nature closely. The concept of fractional and complex order differentiation and integration are elaborated mathematically, physically and geometrically with examples. The practical utility of local fractional differentiation for enhancing the character of singularity at phase transition or characterizing the irregularity measure of response function is deliberated. Practical results of viscoelastic experiments, fractional order controls experiments, design of fractional controller and practical circuit synthesis for fractional order elements are elaborated in this book. The book also maps theory of classical integer order differential equations to fractional calculus contexts, and deals in details with conflicting and demanding initialization issues, required in classical techniques. The book presents a modern approach to solve the ‘solvable’ system of fractional and other differential equations, linear, non-linear; without perturbation or transformations, but by applying physical principle of action-and-opposite-reaction, giving ‘approximately exact’ series solutions. Historically, Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wihelm Leibniz independently discovered calculus in the middle of the 17th century. In recognition to this remarkable discovery, J.von Neumann remarked, “...the calculus was the first achievement of modern mathematics and it is difficult to overestimate its importance. I think it defines more equivocally than anything else the inception of modern mathematical analysis which is logical development, still constitute the greatest technical advance in exact thinking.” This XXI century has thus started to ‘think-exactly’ for advancement in science & technology by growing application of fractional calculus, and this century has started speaking the language which nature understands the best.

In recent years fractional calculus has played an important role in various fields such as mechanics, electricity, chemistry, biology, economics, modeling, identification, control theory and signal processing. The scope of this book is to present the state of the art in the study of fractional systems and the application of fractional differentiation. Furthermore, the manufacture of nanowires is important for the design of nanosensors and the development of high-yield thin films is vital in procuring clean solar energy. This wide range of applications is of interest to engineers, physicists and mathematicians.

This book reports on an outstanding research devoted to modeling and control of dynamic systems using fractional-order calculus. It describes the development of model-based control design methods for systems described by fractional dynamic models. More than 300 years had passed since Newton and Leibniz developed a set of mathematical tools we now know as calculus. Ever since then the idea of non-integer derivatives and integrals, universally referred to as fractional calculus, has been of interest to many researchers. However, due to various issues, the usage of fractional-order models in real-life applications was limited. Advances in modern computer science made it possible to apply efficient numerical methods to the computation of fractional derivatives and integrals. This book describes novel methods developed by the author for fractional modeling and control, together with their successful application in real-world process control scenarios.