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Fractional Calculus (FC) has originated in 1695, nearly at the same time as conventional calculus. However, FC attracted limited attention and remained a pure mathematical exercise in spite of the original contributions of important mathematicians,
physicists and engineers. FC had a rapid development during the last few decades,
both in mathematics and applied sciences, being nowadays recognized as an excellent tool for describing complex systems, phenomena involving long range memory
effects and non-locality. A huge number of research papers and books devoted to this
subject have been published,and presently several specialized conferences and workshops are being organized each year. The FC popularity in all fields of science is due
to its successful application in mathematical models, namely in the form of FC operators and fractional integral and differential equations. Presently, we are witnessing
considerableprogressbothontheoreticalaspectsandapplicationsofFCinareassuch
as physics, engineering, biology, medicine, economy, and finance.
The popularity of FC has attracted many researchers from all over the world and
there is a demand for works covering all areas of science in a systematic and rigorous
form. In fact, the literature devoted to FC and its applications is huge, but readers
are confronted with a high heterogeneity. The Handbook of Fractional Calculus with
Applications (HFCA) intends to fill that gap and provides the reader with a solid and
systematic treatment of the main aspects and applications of FC. Motivated by these
ideas,the editors of the volumes involved at eamof internationally recognized experts
for a join tpublishing project offering a survey of the irown and other important results
in their fields of research. As a result of these joint efforts, a modern encyclopedia of
FC and its applications, reflecting the core of the present day scientific knowledge, is
now available with the HFCA. This work is distributed in eight distinct volumes, each
one developed under the supervision of its editors. |
