691Accesses
22Citations
1Altmetric
Abstract
This work devotes to developing a systematic and convenient approach based on the celebrated convolution quadrature theory to design and analyze difference formulas for fractional calculus at an arbitrary shifted point\(x_{n-\theta }\). The developed theory, called shifted convolution quadrature (SCQ), covers most difference formulas from the aspects of characterizing the formation of related generating functions which are convergent with integer orders. For stability reasons, the theoretical determination of shifted parameter\(\theta \) is provided to fill the gap in which the choice of\(\theta \) depends heavily on experiments particularly for non-integer order derivatives. Further, to discuss the effects of\(\theta \) on A(\(\delta \))-stability, stability regions for several generalized popular formulas within SCQ are examined which are crucial to developing robust numerical schemes. Some numerical tests are also considered to demonstrate the necessity of introducing\(\theta \) for theoretical and practical purposes.
This is a preview of subscription content,log in via an institution to check access.
Access this article
Subscribe and save
- Get 10 units per month
- Download Article/Chapter or eBook
- 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
- Cancel anytime
Buy Now
Price includes VAT (Japan)
Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others
References
Podlubny, I.: Fractional Differential Equations: An Introduction to Fractional Derivatives, Fractional Differential Equations, to Methods of Their Solution and Some of Their Applications. Elsevier, Amsterdam (1998)
Li, J., Huang, Y., Lin, Y.: Developing finite element methods for Maxwell’s equations in a Cole–Cole dispersive medium. SIAM J. Sci. Comput.33(6), 3153–3174 (2011)
Yang, X.: General Fractional Derivatives: Theory, Methods and Applications. Chapman and Hall/CRC, Boca Raton (2019)
Baleanu, D., Diethelm, K., Scalas, E., Trujillo, J.J.: Fractional Calculus: Models and Numerical Methods. World Scientific, Singapore (2012)
Li, C., Zeng, F.: Numerical Methods for Fractional Calculus. Chapman and Hall/CRC, Boca Raton (2015)
Chen, H., Holland, F., Stynes, M.: An analysis of the Grünwald–Letnikov scheme for initial-value problems with weakly singular solutions. Appl. Numer. Math.139, 52–61 (2019)
Jin, B., Li, B., Zhou, Z.: Correction of high-order BDF convolution quadrature for fractional evolution equations. SIAM J. Sci. Comput.39(6), A3129–A3152 (2017)
Ford, N., Yan, Y.: An approach to construct higher order time discretisation schemes for time fractional partial differential equations with nonsmooth data. Fract. Calc. Appl. Anal.20(5), 1076–1105 (2017)
Dehghan, M., Abbaszadeh, M., Deng, W.: Fourth-order numerical method for the space-time tempered fractional diffusion-wave equation. Appl. Math. Lett.73, 120–127 (2017)
Feng, L., Liu, F., Turner, I., Yang, Q., Zhuang, P.: Unstructured mesh finite difference/finite element method for the 2D time-space Riesz fractional diffusion equation on irregular convex domains. Appl. Math. Model.59, 441–463 (2018)
Zhao, M., Cheng, A., Wang, H.: A preconditioned fast Hermite finite element method for space-fractional diffusion equations. Discrete Contin. Dyn. Syst. Ser. B22(9), 3529–3545 (2017)
Yin, B., Liu, Y., Li, H., Zhang, Z.: Finite element methods based on two families of second-order numerical formulas for the fractional cable model with smooth solutions. J. Sci. Comput.84(1), 2 (2020)
Yin, B., Liu, Y., Li, H., Zhang, Z.: Two families of novel second-order fractional numerical formulas and their applications to fractional differential equations (2019).arXiv:1906.01242
Yang, X., Gao, F., Srivastava, H.M.: A new computational approach for solving nonlinear local fractional PDEs. J. Comput. Appl. Math.339, 285–296 (2018)
Baffet, D., Hesthaven, J.S.: High-order accurate local schemes for fractional differential equations. J. Sci. Comput.70(1), 355–385 (2017)
Jin, B., Lazarov, R., Zhou, Z.: Numerical methods for time-fractional evolution equations with nonsmooth data: a concise overview. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng.346, 332–358 (2019)
Liao, H.L., Li, D.F., Zhang, J.W.: Sharp error estimate of the nonuniform L1 formula for linear reaction–subdiffusion equations. SIAM J. Numer. Anal.56(2), 1112–1133 (2018)
Yin, B., Liu, Y., Li, H., He, S.: Fast algorithm based on TT-M FE system for space fractional Allen–Cahn equations with smooth and non-smooth solutions. J. Comput. Phys.379, 351–372 (2019)
Lin, Y., Xu, C.: Finite difference/spectral approximations for the time-fractional diffusion equation. J. Comput. Phys.225, 1533–1552 (2007)
Gao, G., Sun, Z., Zhang, H.: A new fractional numerical differentiation formula to approximate the Caputo fractional derivative and its applications. J. Comput. Phys.259, 33–50 (2014)
Alikhanov, A.: A new difference scheme for the time fractional diffusion equation. J. Comput. Phys.280, 424–438 (2015)
Lubich, C.: Discretized fractional calculus. SIAM J. Math. Anal.17(3), 704–719 (1986)
Tian, W., Zhou, H., Deng, W.: A class of second order difference approximations for solving space fractional diffusion equations. Math. Comput.84, 1703–1727 (2015)
Ding, H., Li, C., Yi, Q.: A new second-order midpoint approximation formula for Riemann–Liouville derivative: algorithm and its application. IMA J. Appl. Math.82(5), 909–944 (2017)
Gunarathna, W.A., Nasir, H.M., Daundasekera, W.B.: An explicit form for higher order approximations of fractional derivatives. Appl. Numer. Math.143, 51–60 (2019)
Li, C., Cai, M.: High-order approximation to Caputo derivatives and Caputo-type advection-diffusion equations: revisited. Numer. Funct. Anal. Optim.38(7), 861–890 (2017)
Chen, M., Deng, W.: Fourth order difference approximations for space Riemann–Liouville derivatives based on weighted and shifted Lubich difference operators. Commun. Comput. Phys.16(2), 516–540 (2014)
Gao, G., Sun, H., Sun, Z.: Stability and convergence of finite difference schemes for a class of time-fractional sub-diffusion equations based on certain superconvergence. J. Comput. Phys.280, 510–528 (2015)
Meerschaert, M.M., Tadjeran, C.: Finite difference approximations for fractional advection–dispersion flow equations. J. Comput. Appl. Math.172(1), 65–77 (2004)
Stynes, M.: Too much regularity may force too much uniqueness. Fract. Calc. Appl. Anal.19, 1554–1562 (2016)
Sakamoto, K., Yamamoto, M.: Initial value/boundary value problems for fractional diffusion-wave equations and applications to some inverse problems. J. Math. Anal. Appl.382(1), 426–447 (2011)
Dimitrov, Y.: Numerical approximations for fractional differential equations (2013).arXiv:1311.3935
Tadjeran, C., Meerschaert, M.M., Scheffer, H.P.: A second-order accurate numerical approximation for the fractional diffusion equation. J. Comput. Phys.213, 205–213 (2006)
Zeng, F., Zhang, Z., Karniadakis, G.E.: Second-order numerical methods for multi-term fractional differential equations: smooth and non-smooth solutions. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng.327, 478–502 (2017)
Wang, Z., Vong, S.: Compact difference schemes for the modified anomalous fractional sub-diffusion equation and the fractional diffusion-wave equation. J. Comput. Phys.277, 1–15 (2014)
Liu, Y., Du, Y., Li, H., Wang, J.: A two-grid finite element approximation for a nonlinear time-fractional Cable equation. Nonlinear Dyn.85, 2535–2548 (2016)
Du, Y., Liu, Y., Li, H., Fang, Z., He, S.: Local discontinuous Galerkin method for a nonlinear time-fractional fourth-order partial differential equation. J. Comput. Phys.344, 108–126 (2017)
Liu, Y., Zhang, M., Li, H., Li, J.: High-order local discontinuous Galerkin method combined with WSGD-approximation for a fractional subdiffusion equation. Comput. Math. Appl.73(6), 1298–1314 (2017)
Ji, C., Sun, Z.: A high-order compact finite difference scheme for the fractional sub-diffusion equation. J. Sci. Comput.64(3), 959–985 (2015)
Liu, Y., Du, Y., Li, H., Liu, F., Wang, Y.: Some second-order\(\theta \) schemes combined with finite element method for nonlinear fractional cable equation. Numer. Algorithms80(2), 533–555 (2019).https://doi.org/10.1007/s11075-018-0496-0
Lubich, C.: A stability analysis of convolution quadraturea for Abel–Volterra integral equations. IMA J. Numer. Anal.6(1), 87–101 (1986)
Liao, H., McLean, W., Zhang, J.: A discrete Grönwall inequality with applications to numerical schemes for subdiffusion problems. SIAM J. Numer. Anal.57(1), 218–237 (2019)
Zeng, F., Li, C., Liu, F., Turner, I.: The use of finite difference/element approaches for solving the time-fractional subdiffusion equation. SIAM J. Sci. Comput.35(6), A2976–A3000 (2013)
Jin, B., Li, B., Zhou, Z.: An analysis of the Crank–Nicolson method for subdiffusion. IMA J. Numer. Anal.38(1), 518–541 (2018)
Jin, B., Li, B., Zhou, Z.: Subdiffusion with a time-dependent coefficient: analysis and numerical solution. Math. Comput.88(319), 2157–2186 (2019)
Li, B., Wang, K., Zhou, Z.: Long-time accurate symmetrized implicit-explicit BDF methods for a class of parabolic equations with non-self-adjoint operators. SIAM J. Numer. Anal.58(1), 189–210 (2020)
Acknowledgements
The work of the first author was supported in part by the NSFC Grant 12061053, the NSF of Inner Mongolia 2020MS01003. The work of the third author was supported in part by the NSFC Grant 12161063, the NSF of Inner Mongolia 2021MS01018. The work of the fourth author was supported in part by Grants NSFC 11871092 and NSAF U1930402.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
School of Mathematical Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, China
Yang Liu, Baoli Yin & Hong Li
Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing, 100193, China
Zhimin Zhang
Department of Mathematics, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
Zhimin Zhang
- Yang Liu
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
- Baoli Yin
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
- Hong Li
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
- Zhimin Zhang
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
Corresponding author
Correspondence toYang Liu.
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interests
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, Y., Yin, B., Li, H.et al. The Unified Theory of Shifted Convolution Quadrature for Fractional Calculus.J Sci Comput89, 18 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10915-021-01630-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Share this article
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative