Outline of the Proposed Topic of Research

Research Scholar Details

Name : Komal

ID No. : 2019PHXF0041P

Place of Research Work and : Department of Mathematics,

Organisation : BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Proposed Supervisor Details

Name : Dr. Trilok Mathur

Qualification : Ph.D.

Designation : Assistant Professor

Organisation : Department of Mathematics,

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

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Proposed Topic of Research
Generalised Fractional Differintegral Equations and Their Applications in Mathematical Mod-
eling of Socioeconomic and Epidemiologic Problems.

Keywords: Fractional Differential Equation, Caputo Derivative, Mathematical Modeling, Crime

Transmission, Stability.

Objective of the Proposed Research

• To study the applications of fractional calculus in mathematical modeling.

• To propose and analyze the new methods for solving fractional differential equations.

• To study the dynamics of crime transmission using fractional order differential equations.

• To apply fractional differential equations (FDEs) in real life applications like epidemiology,
portfolio management, sociology etc.

Background of the Proposed Research

1 Introduction
A little variation to looking some mathematical concept may sometimes sheds light on some
hidden facts. For instances, continuity and differentiability are both limit concepts but defined
differently. However latter one tells more geometric facts about function than that of former
one. The generalization of any mathematical concept besides being a great source of motivation
in its own not just simplifies various intricate facts pertaining to it but extend its applicability
to a wider class of problems. For instance, the first proof of prime number theorem, a very pop-
ular theorem in real numbers, goes through the techniques of complex analysis. Likewise there
have been several generalizations of the notion of derivative to fractional derivative since Leibniz
wrote a letter to L’Hospital raising the following question: “Can the meaning of derivatives with
integer order be generalized to derivatives with non-integer orders?". This question caught the
attention of other great mathematicians including Euler, Laplace, Fourier, Lacroix, Lagrange,
Abel, Riemann and Liouville and this led to the development of theory of fractional integrals
and derivatives.
Fractional calculus is a field of applied mathematics that deals with derivatives and integrals of
arbitrary orders. Although the seeds of fractional derivatives were planted over 300 years ago,
the development of fractional calculus is very slow at an early stage for the absence of geometri-
cal interpretation and applications. Fractional calculus is at this stage an arena where, year by
year new aspects of the fractional modeling and its applications are coming into the picture. At
this moment, the fractional calculus has opened its wings even larger to cover the dynamics of
complex real-world and new ideas are starting to be implemented and tested on real data.

Fractional derivatives are an excellent tool for describing the memory and hereditary prop-
erties of various materials and process. Memory plays a very important role in real life and we
believe in “Learn f rom the past to welcome the new era”, while in integer order derivative

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models such effects are neglected. The beauty of this field is that fractional derivatives (and
integrals) have not a local (or point) property. Thereby this consider the history and non-local
distributed effects. Recently it has been applied to the successful modeling of certain physical
phenomena. A number of papers in the literature have recently reported on the application of
fractional calculus. However, we are still at the beginning of applying this very powerful tool in
many fields of research. Many models are still to be introduced, discussed and applied to real-
world applications in many branches of science and engineering where non-locality or memory
plays a crucial role. Although researchers have already reported many excellent results in several
seminal monographs and review articles, there are still a large number of non-local phenomena
unexplored and waiting to be discovered.

Differentiation and integration of arbitrary order have been defined in various ways and each
definition has its own distinct characteristics. Our main aim is to use these characteristics in
developing new algorithms and apply them to real-life problems. Some definitions of fractional
operators are as follows:

The generalized version of fractional integral and derivatives for any arbitrary real or even
complex number α is

∞  
α −α
X
r α
a Dt f (t) = lim h (−1) f (t − rh) (1)
h→0
r=0
r
nh=t−a

Γ(α+1)
where αr = Γ(α−r+1).Γ(r+1)


and we suppose that n → ∞ as h → 0
The derivatives of an integer order α and the α fold integral of the continuous function f (t)
are particular cases of (1), which represents the derivative of order m if α = m and the m-fold
integral if α = −m.

Riemann-Liouville (R-L) Fractional Integral Operator: Let Re (α) > 0 and f ∈ C.

Then for t > a and t, a ∈ R we call
Z t
RL −α
1
a Dt f (t) = (t − ξ)α−1 f (ξ) dξ (2)
Γ(α) a
the Riemann-Liouville fractional integral of order α.
(The class C contains the functions which are piecewise continuous on J 0 = (0, ∞) and integrable
on any finite subinterval of J = [0, ∞)).

Riemann-Liouville (R-L) Fractional Derivative Operator: Suppose that Re (α) > 0,

t > a. Then for n ∈ N h i
RL α n RL −(n−α)
a Dt f (t) = D a D t f (t) ,
i.e. 
1 dn t f (τ )
Z
dτ, n − 1 < α < n



RL α
D f (t) = Γ(n − α) dtn a (t − τ )α+1−n (3)
a t
 dn
 f (t),

α=n
dtn
is called the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative of order α. The derivative of a constant
is obtained as non-zero using the above definitions which contradicts the classical derivative of

3
the constant. In 1967, Caputo [1] proposed a modification of the R-L definition of fractional
derivative which can overcome this shortcoming.

Caputo Fractional Derivative: Suppose that α > 0, t > a. Then for n ∈ N

C α −(n−α)
a Dt f (t) = RL
a Dt [Dn f (t)] ,

i.e. 
f (n) (τ )
Z t
1
dτ, n − 1 < α < n



C α Γ(n − α) a (t − τ )α+1−n
a Dt f (t) = (4)
 dn
 f (t),

α=n
dtn
is called the Caputo fractional derivative of order α. In this definition we first differentiate the
function f (t) n times then integrate n − α times. The disadvantage of this method is that the
function f (t) should be differentiable n times then the αth order derivative exist. If the function
is non-differentiable then this definition is not applicable.
Two main advantages of this method are fractional derivative of a constant is zero and the frac-
tional differential equation of Caputo type has initial conditions of classical derivative type.

Jumarie Fractional Derivative: In 2006, another modification in the definition of Reimann-

Liouville fractional derivative was proposed by Jumarie:
 Z t
1 f (τ )
dτ, α<0


 Γ(−α) a (tZ − τ )α+1



J α
a Dt f (t) =
1 d t (f (τ ) − f (a)) (5)
α
dτ, 0 < α < 1
Γ(1 − α) dt a (t − τ )




(f (α−n) (x))n

n<α<n+1

The logic of Jumarie fractional derivative is that, we apply R-L fractional derivative operator
on a new function, by forming it from a given function by offsetting the value of the function at
the start point. Here the differentiability requirement as demanded by Caputo definition is not
there. Also the fractional derivative of constant function is zero.

Note: In fractional calculus, differintegral is a combined differentiation/integration operator

applied to a function f . The α differintegral of f , here denoted by Dα f is the fractional deriva-
tive (if α > 0) or fractional integral (if α < 0).

Memory Property of Fractional Differentiation:

Any integer-order derivative considers the only instantaneous rate of change, which is a local
property. For example the first order derivative is written as

df (t) f (t) − f (t − ∆t)

= lim , t > 0. (6)
dt ∆t→0 ∆t
Since this definition only uses values in two points, it can be said that this definition represents
short memory property of the system. Whereas in Caputo fractional operator variable t actually
considers all the values since origin. So, the expression of fractional order derivative exhibits
the memory of considered function’s history. Another definition of fractional derivative which

4
reflects the memory feature is given by expression in (3) for 0 < α < 1. Since fractional deriva-
tive uses all previous values of function f (t), when we employ it to characterize the memory
property of a system, it can characterize the long memory effect of the system.
Fractional operator which is non-local in nature can be utilized in any of mathematical models
which have impact from previous history. Many of mathematical models of transmission use
fractional operators since the future event may be largely altered by historical events. Our main
aim to use these characteristics in developing new mathematical models and apply them to real-
life problems.

Mittag-Leffler Function: The Mittag-Leffler function arises naturally in the solution of frac-
tional differential equations. The one-parameter generalisation of the exponential function, ez
introduced by G. M. Mittag-Leffler is denoted by
∞
X zk
Eα (z) =
k=0
Γ(αk + 1)

The two-parameter function of the Mittag-Leffler type is defined by the series expansion
∞
X zk
Eα,β (z) = ,
k=0
Γ(αk + β)

where α > 0 and β > 0.

2 Literature Review
Fractional calculus is a powerful tool which has been employed to model complex systems with
non-linear behavior and long-term memory, which are neglected in the model described by the
classical integer order calculus for nearly three centuries since its birth. The fractional calcu-
lus may be considered an old and yet novel topic. It is an old topic since, starting from some
speculations of Leibniz (1695, 1697) and Euler (1730), it has been developed up to nowadays.
A list of mathematicians, who have provided important contributions, includes Laplace (1812),
Fourier (1822), Abel (1823-1826), Liouville (1832-1873), Riemann (1847), Grunwald (1867-1872),
Letnikov (1868-1872), Hadamard (1892), Heaviside (1892-1912), Pincherle (1902), Hardy and
Littlewood (1917-1928), Weyl (1917), Levy (1923), Marchaud (1927),Davis (1924-1936), Zyg-
mund (1935-1945), Love (1938-1996), Erdelyi (1939-1965), Kober (1940), Widder (1941), Riesz
(1949) [2]. However, it may be considered a novel topic as well, since only from a little more than
fifty years this subject has been applied to several fields of science, engineering and economics.
Some of the areas where fractional calculus has made an important role are Viscoelasticity, Elec-
trical Engineering, Electrochemistry, Biology, Biophysics and Bioengineering, Electromagnetic
Theory, Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Particle Physics, Control Theory [1].
In 1819, Lacroix [3] published a paper in which fractional derivative was mentioned for the first
time. In 1823, Abel [1] used fractional derivatives to solve the tautochrone problem. He applied
fractional calculus in the solution of an integral equation that arises in the formulation of the
tautochrone problem. As Abel was the first one to make use of fractional derivatives, he is also
known as the father of the fractional calculus. In 1832, Liouville [2, 4, 5] gave the first logical
definition based on the formula for differentiating the exponential function. This expression is
known as the first Liouville definition. The second definition given by Liouville is presented in

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terms of an integral and is now called the version by Liouville for the integration of non-integer
order. He worked in this direction for 1832-1837 and published 9 papers.
In 1847, Riemann [6] work was published, ten years after his death. In 1868, Letnikov [7] and
in 1897, Grünwald [8] independently developed an approach to non-integer order derivatives in
terms of a convenient convergent series, whereas the Riemann-Liouville approach is given by an
integral. Letnikov showed that his definition coincides with the versions formulated by Liouville,
for particular values of the order, and by Riemann, under a convenient interpretation of the so
called non-integer order difference. In 1892, Hadamard [9] suggested that the Taylor’s series of
an analytical function can be used to evaluate its non-integer order derivative.
The process of development of fractional calculus expedited after 1900 and many other defi-
nitions of fractional derivative and integral were proposed. In 1917, Weyl [10] introduced a
derivative to mitigate the problem involving a particular class of functions, the periodic func-
tions. In 1927, Marchaud [4] gave a new definition for non-integer order of derivatives, coincides
with the Liouville version for some functions. In 1940, Kober [11] suggested a definition for
non-integer order of integration which is useful in applications involving integral and differential
equations. In 1967, Caputo [12] presented a definition which is more appropriate to discuss
problems involving a fractional differential equation with initial conditions but comparatively
restrictive than the Riemann-Liouville definition. Monograph of Podlubny [13] and Kilbas et
al. [14] are some of the excellent works in this field.
The definition of fractional derivative is given by many authors. The commonly used definition
is the Riemann-Liouvellie (R-L) definition. Other useful definition includes Caputo definition
of fractional derivative. In 2004, Goyal and Mathur [15, 16] applied Caputo’s definition in dif-
fusion process. In 2006, Jumarie [17] gave Jumarie’s left handed modification of R-L fractional
derivative which is useful to avoid nonzero fractional derivative of a constant functions. In 2015,
Ghosh et al. [18] proposed a theory of characterization of non-differentiable points with Jumarie
type fractional derivative with right handed modification of R-L fractional derivative. In 2020,
Pritam [19] applied fractional calculus operator to achieve sustainable goals in his Ph.D the-
sis. Since differential equations use various types of fractional derivatives, they provide different
kinds of solutions. Therefore, there is no standard algorithm to solve fractional differential equa-
tions. Thus the solution and its interpretation of the fractional differential equations is a rising
field of Applied Mathematics. To solve the linear and non-linear differential equations recently
used methods are Predictor-Corrector method [20], Adomain Decomposition Method [21], Ho-
motopy Perturbation Method [22], Variational Iteration Method [23]. Recently Ghosh et al. [24]
developed analytical method for solution of linear fractional differential equations with Jumarie
type derivative in terms of Mittag-Leffler functions and generalized sine and cosine functions.
Solution of fractional differential equations is an emerging area of present day research because
such equations arise in various applied fields. This new finding has been extended by us to get
analytical solution of system of fractional differential equations.

2.1 Crime Transmission Modeling

Crime is one of the illicit ways to subjudice human civilized society. This has been an age old
problem and it is very important to address this problem carefully. Mainly, crime can be defined
as, an unlawful act that is accounted by state or authority. In 2019, Mittal et al. [25] established
rise in crime hurts the employment and economy of any nation. In 2013, Douglas [26] found
the application of system models on crime transmission initiated with the path-breaking work
by the Department of Law Enforcement of President’s commission in the United States . This

6
work led to the effective management of operating costs of various jurisdictions departments
and made amendments in policies accordingly. In 1969, Blumstein and Larson [27] developed
advanced mathematical and statistical models by operations researchers to control serious of-
fenders discharged at different phases into the society. These advanced models mainly focused
on recidivism processes. Many of Blumstein’s works concentrated on cost-effective mathematical
models that help to eradicate crime through the strategic deployment of police forces [27, 28].
Further, in 2020, Blumstein [29] introduced model for the policymakers to optimize the deploy-
ments of police personals which reduce the adverse effects of crime. In 2020, Parra et al. [30]
developed statistical and mathematical models based on careers of criminals integrated with
punishments. A person’s involvement in crime is investigated in the works of Blumstein along
with his collaborators consequently [31]. Different views on the correlation between the impact
of imprisonment period and crime were raised over a while [32]. Many studies and organizations
also criticized the ineffective implementation of policies and crime involvement of policymakers
and political involvement [33, 34]. One of the effective ways to eradicate crime is to sanction
strategic plans through particular dissuasions. Other studies of Blumstein [35, 36] conclude that
the rise in violence and criminal possession among youths are due to drugs and various other
harmful pharmaceutical consumption for the drastic spread of crime in various parts of the
world. Freeman et al. [37] studied the congestion of crime for limited surroundings along with
monetary involvement. In 2005, Wang et al. [38, 39] analyzed crime equilibrium by evaluating
the asymptotic stability of crime. The game-theoretical approach was also utilized to model
crime by considering different paradigms. The game of snowdrift was used to impose fines on
offenders. The simulations obtained from Monte Carlo [40] and its variants helped in the identi-
fication of cost detecting crimes. A theoretical model based on the evolutionary game approach
helped to evaluate the outcomes of long term exposure to imprisonments and recidivists.
As we know criminally active individual’s contact may impact the behavior of others adversely.
Therefore, the future state is highly correlated to the criminal history of an individual in the
transmission phase. Several mathematical models were introduced to eradicate crime and en-
hance the proper functioning of jurisdictional institutions. All previous studies are formulated
based on integer-order compartmental crime models as their preliminary investigation. Hence
there is a great need to introduce a fractional-order crime transmission mathematical model to
overcome the memory-less property in conventional crime spread models to reflect the impact
of memory in criminal transmissions.

2.2 Impact of Excessive Use of Social Media

Every facility comes with its specific advantages and disadvantages. Social media used is uniform
amongst teenagers, adults and older people. Sometimes, however, this social interaction becomes
a habit, then an addiction as the user is entangled in the cyber world, and ends up costing one’s
real life happiness with respect to relationships and personal goals. In 2014, Ishaku [41] studied
the effects of social networks on student’s academic and non-cognitive behavioral outcomes,
which the authors estimated the influence of social networks on educational attainment and
behavioral outcomes in school. The finding shows that the various types of social networks
have negative effect on student’s learning outcomes and positive effect on other measures of
non-cognitive behavioral outcomes. In 2014, Beqiri et al. [42] studied the impact of social media
on higher education. The paper analyzed the impact of social media platform (email, social
networks, blogs, instant messages etc) in higher education. The outcome of the study showed
that social media has impact on students and is positive when it comes to communication and

7
interactivity among them. The impact of the use of social media on students learning and
performance was investigated by Mbodila et al. [43] in 2014, especially the level of engagement
and collaboration between them while using Facebook. The obtained results which shows that
use of Facebook has a significant impact on student’s collaboration and engagement. In 2015,
Adebiyi et al. [44] published a paper on the impact of social media on academic performance,
in which a survey of undergraduate students of a private university in south west Nigeria was
conducted. The results were analyzed using structural equation modeling and partial least square
approach and it revealed a statistically significant positive effect on academic competence. An
investigation on the impact of online social networking on academic performance among high
school students was made by Mwadime [45] in 2015. The study focused on three respondents
(students, parents and teachers). The research revealed that social media is negatively associated
with academic performance of students. Hence, our study aims to model the impact of social
media on academic performance of students in higher institution using fractional differential
equation for describing the memory properties which are neglected in integer order differential
equations.

2.3 Epedemic Modeling

The modeling of infectious diseases is a tool that has been used to study the mechanisms by
which diseases spread, to predict the future course of an outbreak and to evaluate strategies to
control an epidemic. In the classical integer order epidemic models, (SI, SIS or SIR models, where
S stands for susceptible, I stands for infected, R stand for recovered) the disease is transmitted
with the same probability between compartments of the model studied, then rates of contact and
transmission of disease are supposed to be constant. In other words, classical models state does
not depend on its history, however, the state of evolution of epidemic depends not only upon its
present state but also upon its past states, it’s related to the individual’s experiences, hence it’s
more acceptable to study the evolution of an epidemic in a human society by taking into account
the history of the system, virtually this could be possible by replacing the ordinary derivative by
a fractional one. In fact the definition of any fractional derivation contains a memory kernel or
memory function, expressing a system with such derivative makes every state of the system in
study depend on past states. In 2017, Saeedian et al. [46] explained in details the memory effects
on epidemic evolution using fractional derivative. Various epidemic models have successful being
proposed and studied as generalized of classical integers ones. In 2000, Hethcote [47] proposed the
first fractional SIR model with a constant population, in the same year Driessche and Watmough
[48] presented a classical simple SIS model with a contact rate depending on time. Moreover in
2014, El-Saka [49, 50] developed the fractional order SIS model with a constant population size
and with a variable population size respectively, in both works the stability of equilibrium points
of the model is studied. Two years later mathematical model for the transmission of Ebola in
human society has been presented by Yuan et al. [51]. In the same year Ameen and Novati
proposed numerical solution for fractional SIR model with constant population [52] by using
discrete methods: Generalized Euler Method and Predictor Corrector Adams method, which is
an implicit numerical scheme. In 2016, Okyere et al. [53] studied a fractional order extension
of the SIR and SIS model in which ordinary derivative is replaced by by the Caputo fractional
derivative, they also used Adams method to illustrate model solutions. Banerjee [54] studied
a fractional order SIS epidemic model with constant recruitment rate and variable population
size. In 2017, Sun et al. [55] suggested a mathematical model to describe the transmission
of cholera in the population of China, mainly the environment-to-human transmission of the

8
disease. In 2018, Li [56] presented a dynamical model on hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome
in China, within the same frame Ahmed and El-Saka [57] studied the transmission of a dangerous
epidemic, called MERS-CoV using fractional order derivative. Recently in 2018, Singh et al. [58]
considered a fractional epidemiological SIR model to describe the spread of computer virus. In
the same area of research, some mathematical studies use recent analytic methods for solving
fractional epidemic systems like the Adomian decomposition method [59], Variational Iterative
Method [60], Homotopy Perturbation Method [61] and Homotopy Analysis Method [62, 63].
Those methods are powerful tools to provide rapidly convergent successive approximations of
exact solution for non linear fractional problems.

3 Gaps in Existing Research

• The rules of fractional derivatives are not unique till date. The differential equations in
different form of fractional derivatives give different types of solutions. There are very less
techniques to solve fractional differential equations.
• From the literature review, stated above, we notice that time taken to capture and reinforce
criminals, natural birth rate and natural death rate are not considered in fractional order
modeling of crime transmission till date.
• As memory plays an important role in real-life applications like excessive use of social
media, impact of use of abuse substances and so on. ODEs/PDEs(integer order) are
inadequate to model such phenomena.
• The curves like ECGs, earthquakes, price of a stock are continuous but have some non-
differentiable points. To study the behaviour of such process integer order differential
equations are inadequate.

4 Methodology
Initially we would survey the existing literature to study the basic concepts of fractional calculus
through text books, research papers and research monographs. Then we would study the existing
methods to solve FDEs. We would attempt to develop the new analytical and numerical methods
to overcome limitations of the existing methods to solve FDEs. Further we will apply the
proposed methods for modeling of real life problems specially in area of sociology, economics
and epidemiology. We will also analyze their properties like existence, uniqueness, stability,
bifurcation associated with our objectives.

4.1 Some Existing Techniques to Solve FDE

4.1.1 The Laplace Transform Method
Let the initial value problem
C
Dα y(t) = f (t, y(t)), y (k) (t0 ) = yk

where k = 0, 1, ... ,dαe − 1 for some α > 0 on the interval [t0 , T ].

Diethelm [64] gave the following result to solve the initial value problem:

9
Theorem: 4.1.1: If f : [t0 , T ]×R → R be continuous and bounded, and assume that it satisfies
Lipschitz condition with respect to the second variable. Then, the initial value problem has a
unique solution on [t0 , T ].
Using the Laplace transformation we will prove the Existence and Uniqueness of solution.

4.1.2 By Converting to Integer Order Differential Equation

Let y(t) is real valued function defined on interval (t0 , T ). For a given number α, 0 ≤ α ≤ 1,
Now consider the FDE: Dα y(t) + P (t)y(t) = 0,
where P (t) is continuous. This equation get transformed to

αDy(t) + βy(t) + P (t)y(t) = 0 , where α + β = 1

which is simple first order linear ordinary differential equation. This result was inroduced by
Ahuja et al. [65].

4.1.3 Solution of System of Linear Fractional Differential Equations with Modified

derivative of Jumarie Type
Let Re(α) > 0 and y ∈ C then for t > t0 ; t, t0 ∈ R, and λ1 , λ2 are constant.
• The fractional differential equation (J Dα − λ1 )(J Dα − λ2 )y(t) = 0 has solution of the form
y = AEα (λ1 tα ) + BEα (λ2 tα ) where A and B are constants.

• The fractional differential equation J D2α y(t) − 2λ1 (J Dα y(t)) + λ21 y(t) = 0 has solution of
the form y = (Atα + B)Eα (λ1 tα ) where A and B are constants.

• The fractional differential equation J D2α y(t) − 2λ1 (J Dα y(t)) + (λ21 + λα2 )y(t) = 0 has a
solution of the form y = Eα (λ1 tα )(Acosα (λ2 tα )+Bsinα (λ2 tα ))where A and B are constants.
These results are introduced by Kumar et al. [24].

4.1.4 Local Stability

Assume that our model can be represented in the following form
dα X(t)
= F (X(t)) ,
dtα
where X(t) = (x1 (t); x2 (t); ...; xn (t))T ; F (X(t)) = (f1 ; f2 ; ...; fn )T and E ∗ = (x∗1 ; x∗2 ; ...; x∗n )T is the
equilibrium point.
For fractional order systems, the stability analysis of equilibrium points is complex and difficult
due to the nonlocal property of fractional calculus. In this we check the stability of a equilibrium
point in its neighbourhood. For fractional-order system, the equilibrium points of the system are
asymptotically stable if all the eigenvalues at the equilibrium E ∗ satisfy the following condition:
π
|arg(eig(J))| = |arg(λj )| > α
2
where j = 1, 2, .....n and J is the Jacobian matrix of the system evaluated at the equilibria
E ∗ [66]. To show the local stability of fractional order system we can use Routh-Hurwitz criteria
also [67].

10
4.1.5 Global Stability
Theorem (Gallegos and Duarte-Mermoud 2016):

Let a fractional-order non-autonomous dynamical system has an equilibrium point E ∗ contained

in domain χ ⊂ Rn . Then for any function U : [0, ∞) × χ → R continuously differentiable
along with the conditions U1 (x) ≤ U (t, x(t)) ≤ U2 (x) and c0 Dtα (U (t, x(t))) ≤ −U3 (x), where
U1 (x), U2 (x) and U3 (x) are continuous positive definite functions on the domain χ for every α
∈ (0, 1), the fractional non-autonomous dynamical system is uniformly asymptotically stable [68].

4.1.6 Bifurcation theory

If varying a parameter changes the qualitative behavior of steady state(s) of a dynamical system
then we say that system undergoes bifurcation. By qualitative behavior we mean

• Number of steady states.

• Stability of steady states.

There are certain types of bifurcations as:

(a) Hopf bifurcation
(b) Saddle-node bifurcation
(c) transcritical bifurcation
(d) Pitchfork bifurcation
We shall study the direction and stability of the periodic solution bifurcating from the equilibrium
point by using the result introduced by Tang et al. [69]

4.1.7 Numerical Simulation

Numerical experiments will be carried out with the help of Mathematica / MATLAB to validate
the theoretical findings.

5 Work Plan
The various phases of the research activity are described below:

• Phase–I (0-24): Review of Literature and identification of study areas. Literature survey
is an ongoing activity and it will span over the entire period of the Ph.D. program. There
will be review of books, journals, articles on the internet, journals on internet, monographs
on the internet, database on the internet, dissertations/thesis etc. Learning of software
like MATLAB, Python etc. will also be done for numerical simulation.

• Phase–II (6-18): In this phase, we shall formulate some FDEs mathematical models to
study the dynamics of biological species.

• Phase–III (12-24): After developing the models, we shall do the stability analysis in
this phase, which is the most crucial stage of solving the established problems in phase II.

11
 • Phase–IV (18-30): In this phase, Computer simulation will be performed to endorse the
theoretical findings which we got in previous phase, and then the results in the form of the
research paper will be communicated for the publications.

• Phase–V(30-36): Results will be compiled in the form of thesis and will be submitted
for evaluation.
The study is expected to be completed in 36 months. The initiation of the study is marked
as 0 and the completion as 36. The activities scheduled and the time by which these are
to be achieved are indicated this Figure.

References
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