Structural derivative based on inverse Mittag-Leffler function for modeling ultraslow diffusion

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes a novel structural derivative approach to tackle the perplexing modeling problem of ultraslow diffusion. The structural function plays a central role in this new strategy as a kernel transform of underlying time-space fabric of physical systems. Ultraslow diffusion has been observed in numerous lab experiments and field observations, whose behaviors deviate dramatically from the standard anomalous diffusion models characterizing power function of time. The logarithmic diffusion model has since been used to describe bizarre process of ultraslow diffusion but with very limited success. This study applies the inverse Mittag-Leffler function as the structural function in the structural derivative modeling ultraslow diffusion of a random system of two interacting particles. It is observed that the dynamics of two interacting particles are respectively the ballistic motion at the short time scale and the Sinai ultraslow diffusion at the long time scale. Compared with the logarithmic diffusion model, the inverse Mittag-Leffler diffusion model has higher accuracy and manifests clearer physical mechanism. Numerical experiments show that the structural derivative is a feasible mathematical tool to model the ultraslow diffusion using the inverse Mittag-Leffler function as its structural function.