1. Introduction
Convexity theory has a rich history and has emerged as a powerful tool over the last century. It has played a significant role in extensions and generalizations of classical results. It is also well known that convex functions are closely related to the theory of inequalities. Therefore, due to widespread applications, many inequalities for convex functions have been applied in pure and applied mathematics including financial mathematics, analysis, optimization theory, economics and graph theory, etc.
Let is a non-empty interval in . Then a real valued function is said to be convex function, if for all and .
We recall the definition of -convex function as follows:
Definition 1 ([
1]).
Let be an interval containing and let be a non-negative function. We say that is a -convex function, if f is non-negative and for all and , one has The popular Hadamard inequality is very nice geometric visualization of convex function and it is stated as follows:
If
is a convex function on interval
and
where
, then the following inequality holds:
For concave function on
, both the inequalities in (
2) will be reversed. Many researchers have obtained several generalizations, extensions and variants of this inequality, see [
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16,
17,
18,
19,
20] and references therein.
In the past few decades, fractional calculus has become an emerging and active field of research. Its history is as old as classical calculus. Nowadays, it not only deals with the study of so-called fractional order integrals but it also deals with the derivative operators and their applications. A lot of mathematical modeling addresses complex real life problems, and the use of fractional calculus spans diverse fields of engineering and sciences including but not limited to circuits systems, viscoelasticity, ecological systems, fluid dynamics and signal processing. Based on their importance in fractional calculus, a comprehensive account of fractional integral and derivative operators can be found in [
21,
22,
23,
24,
25].
In this paper, we define a new class of functions, named as -convex function with respect to a strictly monotone function. This class of functions will unify several types of convexities, also the Hadamard fractional integral inequalities are established for this new class of functions keeping Riemann–Liouville fractional integrals.
The classical Riemann–Liouville integrals of fractional order and the Hadamard inequality for these integrals are given in the following definition and theorems, respectively:
Definition 2. Let . Then the left and right-sided Riemann–Liouville fractional integral operators of the function f of fractional order are given as follows:and The fractional Hadamard inequalities for Riemann–Liouville integrals are given in the next two theorems.
Theorem 1 ([
14]).
Let be positive and convex function on .
Then the following inequality holds:with .
Theorem 2 ([
15]).
Let be positive and convex function on .
Then the following inequality holds: with .
The definition of k-fractional Riemann–Liouville integrals is stated as follows:
Definition 3 ([
26]).
Let .
Then the left and right sided k-fractional Riemann–Liouville integrals of the function f of fractional order ,
are defined as follows:andwhere . Using the fact
in (3) and (4) after replacing
by
, one can get
In the upcoming section, we define
-convexity with respect to a strictly monotone function. In
Section 3, Hadamard inequalities for
-convexity with respect to a monotone function using integrals (
3) and (
4) are derived. Furthermore, we have deduced a lot of fractional versions of Hadamard inequalities published in [
1,
4,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
14,
15,
27,
28,
29,
30,
31,
32].
2. Some New Notions of Convexity
First, in the following we define -convex function with respect to a strictly monotone function:
Definition 4. Letbe an interval containingand letbe a non-negative function. Letbe intervals in and be strictly monotonic function and . Then is said to be (α, h − m)-convex with respect to ψ, if is -convex function.
Mathematically we have:
holds for
and
provided
Im
for
Im
. For
in (
11), we get the definition of
-convex function.
Remark 1. Let;
,
.
Then,
one can have the following inequality By replacing
x with
and
y with
in (
12), the definition of
-
p-convexity defined in [
33] can be obtained. Moreover after replacing
x with
,
y with
and taking
in (
12), the definition of
-convex function defined in [
34] can be obtained. Similarly, one can obtain the definitions of
p-convexity by replacing
x with
,
y with
and setting
,
defined in [
35],
-convexity stated in [
1] can be obtained by setting
and if
,
in (
12), the
-convexity can be obtained stated in [
36].
Remark 2. Let , . Then , one can have the following inequality By replacing
x with
and replacing
y with
, the definition of
-GA-convexity is reproduced as given below:
If
in (
14), we get the definition of
-geometrically-arithmetically-convex function (
-GA-convex function) given in [
37]. If
,
in (
14), we get the definition of
-geometrically-arithmetically-convex function (
-GA-convex function) given in [
37]. If
and
in (
14), we get the definition of
-geometrically-arithmetically-convex function (
-GA-convex function) given in [
19]. If
with
in (
14), the following definition of
-Godunova-Levin-GA function can be obtained:
Remark 3. Let,
.
Then,
one can have the following inequality By replacing
x with
and
y with
in (
16), the definition of
-HA-convexity defined in [
33] can be obtained. Further, replacing
x with
,
y with
and taking
in (
16), the definition of
-HA-convexity defined in [
19] can be obtained. Similarly, replacing
x with
,
y with
and taking
,
in (
16), definition of harmonic convexity defined in [
8] can be obtained. Replacing
x with
,
y with
and taking
,
in (
16), definition of harmonic
s-convexity in the second sense defined in [
32] can be obtained. Moreover, one can obtain harmonically
h-convexity by replacing
x with
,
y with
and taking
in (
16) defined in [
38] and
s-Godunova-Levin function of second kind defined in [
38] can be obtained by replacing
x with
,
y with
and taking
,
in (
16).
Remark 4. Ifandin (11), the definition of convexity with respect to a strictly monotone function stated in [3] can be obtained. Remark 5. If,
,
,
,
in (11), the definition of-convexity stated in [39] can be obtained. If,
,
,
,
in (11), the definition of E-convexity stated in [40] can be obtained. Remark 6. If we replace x withand y with,
the inequality (11) becomes: Remark 7. Ifin (11), the definition of-convexity of f with respect to to ψ can be obtained, as given below: Remark 8. Ifandin (11), the definition of-convexity of f with respect to to strictly monotonic function ψ can be obtained, as given below: Remark 9. Ifin (11), the definition of-convexity of f with respect to to ψ can be obtained as given below: Remark 10. Ifandin (11), the definition of Godunova-Levin type of-convexity of f with respect to to ψ can be obtained as given below: 3. Fractional Versions of Hadamard Inequalities for -Convex Function with Respect to Strictly Monotone Function
In this section, we have proved two variants of Hadamard inequalities for -convex functions with respect to strictly monotone function. The first one is stated and proved as follows:
Theorem 3. Letbe intervals inandbe the-convex function, also letbe strictly monotonic function and,
.
If f is-convex function with respect to ψ, then forone can have the following inequality:withand,
provided Im
for
Im
.
Proof. Since
f is
-convex with respect to
, for
Im
, the following inequality holds:
Taking
,
in (
23), we get the following inequality:
Using
-convexity of
f with respect to
and integrating the resulting inequality over the interval
after multiplying with
, we get:
Taking
, that is,
and
, that is,
in (
25), then by applying Definition 2 and multiplying by
, the required inequality (
22) can be obtained. □
Remark 11. (i) If one considers , , in (22), we obtain Theorem 4 from [9]. (ii) If one considers , and in (22), we obtain Theorem 2.4 from [8]. (iii) If one considers and in (22), we obtain Corollary 2.2 from [1]. (iv) If one considers and in (22), we obtain Theorem 1. (v) If one considers and in (22), we obtain the Hadamard inequality. (vi) If one considers and in (22), we obtain Theorem 2.1 from [27]. (vii) If one considers , and in (22), we obtain Theorem 2.1 from [32]. (viii) If one considers , and in (22), we obtain Theorem 2.1 from [4]. (ix) If one considers , and in (22), we obtain Theorem 7 from [7]. (x) If one considers , and in (22), we obtain Corollary 2.1 from [31]. Corollary 1. The following fractional integral inequality holds for -GA-convex functions:provided.
Proof. The function
,
is strictly increasing. By setting it in (
22), we get above inequality. □
Corollary 2. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -HA-convex functions holds:provided.
Proof. The function
is strictly decreasing. By setting it in (
22), we get above inequality. □
Corollary 3. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -convexity of f with respect to a strictly monotonic function ψ holds:provided.
Proof. For
, we have
and
,
. Therefore from (
22), the required inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 4. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -convexity of f with respect to a strictly monotonic function ψ holds: Proof. If
and
in (
22), then the above inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 5. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for Godunova-Levin type of -convexity of f with respect to a strictly monotonic function ψ holds: Proof. If
and
in (
22), then the above inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 6. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities for -p-convex functions hold:
(ii) If ,provided.
Proof. (i) The function
is strictly increasing on
for
. By setting it in (
22), we get the required inequality.
(ii) The function
is strictly decreasing on
for
. By setting it in (
22), we get the required inequality. □
Remark 12. (i) If in (26) and (27), then the inequalities for -p-convex function can be obtained. (ii) If one considers and in (26) and (27), we obtain Theorem 1.3 from [10]. Corollary 7. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities for -p-Godunova-Levin functions hold:
(ii) If ,provided.
Proof. (i) If
and
in (
26), then the required inequality can be obtained.
(ii) If
and
in (
27), then the required inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 8. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities for -p-convex functions hold:
(ii) If ,provided.
Proof. (i) If
and
in (
26), then the required inequality can be obtained.
(ii) If
and
in (
27), then the required inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 9. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities for -p-convex functions hold:
(ii) If ,provided.
Proof. (i) If
in (
26), then the required inequality can be obtained.
(ii) If
in (
27), then the required inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 10. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -HA-convex functions holds: Proof. If
in (
27), then the above inequality can be obtained. □
The second variant of the Hadamard inequality is stated and proved as follows:
Theorem 4. Under the same assumptions as stated in Theorem 3, for Riemann–Liouville fractional integrals the following inequality holds: Proof. Let
,
in (
23), we get:
Using
-convexity of
f with respect to
and integrating the resulting inequality over the interval
after multiplying with
, we get:
Taking
, that is,
and
, that is,
in (
30), then by applying Definition 2 and multiplying by
, we get the required inequality (
28). □
Remark 13. (i) If one considers and in (28), we obtain Theorem 2. (ii) If one considers , in (28), we obtain the Hadamard inequality. (iii) If one considers and in (28), we obtain Theorem 2.1 from [28]. (iv) If one considers , and in (28), we obtain Theorem 4 from [11]. (v) If one considers , and in (28), we obtain Theorem 2.4 from [8]. (vi) If one considers , and in (28), we obtain Theorem 7 from [29]. (vii) If one considers , and in (28), we obtain Theorem 3.1 from [30]. (viii) If one considers , and in (28), we obtain Theorem 2.1 from [32]. (ix) If one considers , and in (28), we obtain Theorem 2.1 from [4]. Corollary 11. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -GA-convex functions holds:provided.
Proof. The function
,
is strictly increasing. By setting it in (
28), we get above inequality. □
Corollary 12. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -HA-convex functions holds:provided.
Proof. The function
,
is strictly increasing. By setting it in (
28), we get above inequality. □
Corollary 13. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -convexity of f with respect to a strictly monotonic function ψ holds: Proof. If
in (
28), then the above inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 14. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for Godunova Levin type of -convexity of f with respect to a strictly monotonic function ψ holds: Proof. If
and
in (
28), then the above inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 15. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -convexity of f with respect to a strictly monotonic function ψ holds: Proof. If
and
in (
28), then the above inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 16. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities for -p-convex functions hold:
(ii) If ,provided.
Proof. (i) The function
is strictly increasing on
for
. By setting it in (
28), we get the required inequality.
(ii) The function
is strictly decreasing on
for
. By setting it in (
28), we get the required inequality. □
Remark 14. (i) If in (31) and (32), the inequalities for -p-convex functions are obtained. (ii) If one considers and in (31), the inequality (7) given in ([10], Theorem 7) is obtained. (iii) If one considers and in (32), the inequality (8) given in ([10], Theorem 7) is obtained. (iv) If one considers , in (31) and (32), ([10], Theorem 1.3) is obtained. Corollary 17. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities for -p-Godunova-Levin functions hold:
(ii) If ,provided.
Proof. (i) If
and
in (
31), then the required inequality can be obtained.
(ii) If
and
in (
32), then the required inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 18. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities for -p-convex functions hold:
(ii) If ,provided.
Proof. (i) If
and
in (
31), then the required inequality can be obtained.
(ii) If
and
in (
32), then the required inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 19. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities for -p-convex functions hold:
(ii) If ,provided.
Proof. (i) If
in (
31), then the required inequality is obtained.
(ii) If
in (
32), then the required inequality can be obtained. □
Corollary 20. The following Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequality for -HA-convex functions holds: Proof. If
in (
32), then the above inequality can be obtained. □
Remark 15. Using (9) and (10) after replacing μ by in all of the above inequalities, one can obtain k-fractional versions of all above results.