Abstract
We study the existence and uniqueness of solutions for a system of Hilfer–Hadamard fractional differential equations. These equations are subject to coupled nonlocal boundary conditions that incorporate Riemann–Stieltjes integrals and a range of Hadamard fractional derivatives. To establish our key findings, we apply various fixed point theorems, notably including the Banach contraction mapping principle, the Krasnosel’skii fixed point theorem applied to the sum of two operators, the Schaefer fixed point theorem, and the Leray–Schauder nonlinear alternative.
Keywords:
Hilfer–Hadamard fractional differential equations; nonlocal coupled boundary conditions; existence; uniqueness MSC:
34A08; 34B10; 34B15
1. Introduction
We examine the system of fractional differential equations
subject to the nonlocal coupled boundary conditions
where , , , , , denotes the Hilfer–Hadamard fractional derivative of order and type (for and ), represents the Hadamard fractional derivative of order (for , and ), the continuous functions f and g are defined on , and the integrals from the boundary conditions (2) are Riemann–Stieltjes integrals with , , and functions of bounded variation.
In this paper, we present a variety of conditions for the functions f and g such that problem (1) and (2) has at least one solution. We will write our problem as an equivalent system of integral equations, and then we will associate it with an operator whose fixed points are our solutions. The proof of our primary outcomes involves the utilization of diverse fixed point theorems. Noteworthy among these theorems are the Banach contraction mapping principle, the Krasnosel’skii fixed point theorem applied to the sum of two operators, the Schaefer fixed point theorem, and the Leray–Schauder nonlinear alternative. The nonlocal boundary conditions (2) are general ones, and they include different particular cases. For example, if , for , and , then the Hadamard derivative coincides with . If one of the order of the Hadamard derivatives from the right-hand side of the relations from (2) is zero (for example, if is zero), then the term becomes , which contains the cases of the multi-point boundary conditions for the function u (if is a step function); a classical integral condition; a combination of them; or even a Hadamard fractional integral for a special form of (as we mentioned in []). If and is a step function, then , which is a combination of the Hadamard fractional derivatives of function u in various points. If all functions and are constant functions, then the boundary conditions become uncoupled boundary conditions (where the Hadamard derivative of order of the function u in the point T is dependent only of the derivatives of the function u, and the Hadamard derivative of order of the function v in the point T is dependent only of the derivatives of function v), and if and are constant functions, then the boundary conditions become purely coupled boundary conditions (in which the Hadamard derivative of order of the function u in T is dependent only of the derivatives of the function v, and the Hadamard derivative of order of the function v in T is dependent only of the derivatives of the function u).
Next, we will introduce some papers that are relevant to the issue posed by Equations (1) and (2). In [], the authors investigated the existence and uniqueness of solutions for the Hilfer–Hadamard fractional differential equation with nonlocal boundary conditions
where , , , is a continuous function, is the Hadamard fractional integral operator of order , and for , , . The multi-valued version of problem (3) is also studied. For the proof of the main results, they used differing fixed point theorems. In [], the authors proved the existence of solutions for the system of sequential Hilfer–Hadamard fractional differential equations supplemented with boundary conditions
where , , and are given continuous functions.
In paper [], Hadamard defined a fractional derivative with a kernel involving a logarithmic function with an arbitrary exponent. In [], Hilfer introduced a new fractional derivative (known as the Hilfer fractional derivative), which is a generalization of the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative and the Caputo fractional derivative. Some applications of this new fractional derivative are presented in papers [,]. The Hilfer–Hadamard fractional derivative is an interpolation of the Hadamard fractional derivative, and it covers the cases of the Riemann–Liouville–Hadamard and Caputo–Hadamard fractional derivatives (see the definition in Section 2). The distinctive aspects of our presented challenge, (1) and (2), emerge from the exploration of a set of Hilfer–Hadamard fractional differential equations encompassing diverse orders and types. Additionally, the introduction of general nonlocal boundary conditions (2) contributes novelty, extending beyond numerous specific instances as previously observed. To the best of our knowledge, this issue represented by Equations (1) and (2) is a novel problem in the literature. Our theorems represent original contributions and make substantial advancements in the realm of coupled systems involving Hilfer–Hadamard fractional derivatives. Although the techniques employed in demonstrating our primary findings in Section 3 are conventional, their adaptation to address our problem (1) and (2) is innovative. For more recent investigations concerning Hadamard, Hilfer, and Hilfer–Hadamard fractional differential equations and their applications, we recommend the monograph [] and the following papers: [,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,].
The structure of the paper unfolds as follows: In Section 2, we offer definitions and properties related to fractional derivatives, along with a result regarding the existence of solutions for the linear boundary value problem linked to Equations (1) and (2). Moving on, Section 3 is dedicated to the core findings concerning the existence and uniqueness of solutions for problem (1) and (2). Subsequently, in Section 4, we provide illustrative examples that demonstrate the practical application of our theorems. Lastly, concluding insights for this paper can be found in Section 5.
2. Auxiliary Results
In this section, we present some definitions and properties of fractional derivatives and an existence result for the linear boundary value problem associated with (1) and (2).
Definition 1
(Hadamard fractional integral []). For a function , (), the Hadamard fractional integral of order is defined by
and .
Definition 2
(Hadamard fractional derivative []). For a function , (), the Hadamard fractional derivative of order is defined by
where , (). For , , where is the δ-derivative, and, for , .
Lemma 1
([]). If , and , then
Definition 3
(Hilfer–Hadamard fractional derivative [,]). Let and , (), . The Hilfer–Hadamard fractional derivative of order α and type β for the function z is defined by
where .
If , the Hilfer–Hadamard fractional derivative coincides with the Hadamard fractional derivative . If , the fractional derivative coincides with the Caputo–Hadamard derivative, given by .
Theorem 1
([]). Let , , (), , , and . If and , then the following relation holds
We consider now the system of linear fractional differential equations
subject to the boundary conditions (2), where . We denote by , , and
Lemma 2.
Proof.
We apply the integral operators and , respectively, to equations of system (10). Then, the solutions of system (10) are given by
where . Because , we deduce that . So, we obtain, for the solutions of (10), the formulas
For , , we find
and for , , we obtain
By applying the conditions , and , we deduce
or
The determinant of system (19) in the unknowns and is
that is, , given by (11), which is different than zero by the assumptions of this lemma. So, the solution of system (19) is unique, namely
By replacing the above formulas for and in (15), we obtain the solution of problems (10) and (2) given by (12). □
3. Existence Results
In this section, we will give the main existence and uniqueness theorems for the solutions of problem (1) and (2). By using Lemma 2, our problem (1) and (2) can be equivalently written as the following system of integral equations
where .
We consider the Banach with the supremum norm and the Banach space with the norm . We define the operator , , with given by
for all and . We see that the solutions of problem (1) and (2) (or system (22) are the fixed points of operator . So, next, we will investigate the existence of the fixed points of this operator in the space .
We present now the basic assumptions that we will use in the next results.
- (H1)
- ; ; ; ; are bounded variation functions, for all , , , ; , and (given by (11)).
We also introduce the constants
Our first existence and uniqueness theorem for problem (1) and (2) is the following one, which is based on the Banach contraction mapping principle (see []).
Theorem 2.
We assume that assumption holds. In addition, we suppose that the functions are continuous and satisfy the condition
- (H2)
- There exist , such thatfor all and , .
Proof.
We will verify that operator is a contraction in the space . We denote this by and . By using , we find
for all and . We consider now the positive number
and let the set .
We will show firstly that . Indeed, for this, let . Then, we obtain
So, we find
In a similar manner, we obtain
Next, we will prove that operator is a contraction. For this, let . Then, for any we obtain
Therefore, we find
In a similar manner, we obtain
The next two results for the existence of solutions of problem (1) and (2) are based on the Krasnosel’skii fixed point theorem for the sum of two operators (see []).
Theorem 3.
We suppose that assumptions and hold. In addition, we assume that the functions are continuous and satisfy the following condition:
- (H3)
- There exist the continuous functions , () such that
Proof.
We consider the number satisfying the condition
and the closed ball . We will verify the assumptions of the Krasnosel’skii fixed point theorem for the sum of two operators. We split operator , defined on , as , , , where are defined by
for all and .
We will prove firstly that for all . For this, let . Then, we obtain
and
Next, we will prove that operator is a contraction mapping. Indeed, for all , we find
Therefore, by (44), we obtain
By condition (38), we conclude that operator is a contraction.
Operators , , and are continuous by the continuity of functions f and g. In addition, is uniformly bounded on because
and then
We finally prove that operator is compact. Let , . Then, for all , we find
which tends to zero as , independently of . We also have
which tends to zero as , independently of .
Theorem 4.
Proof.
As in the proof of Theorem 3, we consider the positive number and the closed ball . We also split operator , defined on , as , , , where are defined by (40).
For , we obtain as in the proof of Theorem 3, that
We will prove next that the operator is a contraction. Indeed, we find
Then, we deduce
that is, by (50), operator is a contraction.
Operators , and are continuous by the continuity of the functions f and g. Moreover, is uniformly bounded on because we have
and
We finally prove that operator is compact. Let , . Then, for all , we find
which tends to zero as , independently of . We also obtain
which tends to zero as , independently of .
Our next result is based on the Schaefer fixed point theorem (see []).
Theorem 5.
We assume that assumption holds. In addition, we suppose that the functions are continuous and satisfy the following condition:
- (H4)
- There exist positive constants such that
Proof.
Firstly, we show that is completely continuous. Operator is continuous. Indeed, let , , , as in . Then, for each , we obtain
and
Because f and g are continuous, we find
as , for all . So, by relations (61)–(63), we deduce
and then , as ; i.e., is a continuous operator.
We prove now that maps bounded sets into bounded sets in . For , let . Then, by using (60) and similar computations to those in the first part of the proof of Theorem 2, we obtain
for all and . Then, by (65), we conclude
i.e., is bounded.
In the following, we will prove that maps bounded sets into equicontinuous sets. For this, let , , and . Then, by using similar computations to those in the proofs of Theorems 3 and 4, we find
independently of , and
independently of .
Therefore, by using relations (67) and (68), we obtain that operators and are equicontinuous, and so, is equicontinuous. So, the operator is completely continuous, by using the Arzela–Ascoli theorem.
Finally, we show that set is bounded. Let , i.e., there exists such that or and for all . Then, by , we obtain in a similar manner as that used in the first part of this proof that
and then
This shows that the set is bounded. Therefore, by the Schaefer fixed point theorem (see []), we deduce that operator has at least one fixed point. Hence, problem (1) and (2) has at least one solution. □
In our last existence result, we will use the Leray–Schauder nonlinear alternative (see []).
Theorem 6.
We suppose that assumption holds. Moreover, we assume that the functions are continuous, and the following conditions are satisfied:
- (H5)
- There exist the functions and the functions nondecreasing in each of both variables such that
- (H6)
- There exists a positive constant L such that
4. Examples
In this section, we will present some examples that illustrate our theorems obtained in Section 3.
We consider , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and .
In addition, we introduce the following functions
We consider the system of fractional differential equations
subject to the nonlocal coupled boundary conditions
After some computations, using the Mathematica program, we obtain , , , , , , and . So, assumption is satisfied.
In addition, we find , , , and .
Example 1. We consider the functions
for all and .
We have
for all and , . So, we find , , , (from assumption ), and then and . Because , then condition (26) is satisfied. Therefore, by Theorem 2, we conclude that the boundary value problem (77) and (78) with the nonlinearities (79) has a unique solution .
Example 2. We consider the functions
for all and .
We have the following inequalities
for all and , and
for all and . So , , , , and so and . So, assumptions and are satisfied. In addition, we obtain and . Then, we find , i.e., condition (38) is also satisfied. By Theorem 3, we deduce that problem (77) and (78) with the nonlinearities (81) has at least one solution .
Example 3. We consider the functions
for all and . We obtain and , for all and . So, and (from assumption ). By Theorem 5, we conclude that the boundary value problem (77) and (78) with the nonlinearities (84) has at least one solution .
Example 4. We consider the functions
for all and . We have the inequalities
for all and . So, we find , , , , for all and , and then assumption is satisfied. In addition, we obtain and . The condition from assumption becomes
So, if , then assumption is also satisfied. Therefore, by Theorem 6, we deduce the existence of at least one solution for problem (77) and (78) with the nonlinearities (85).
5. Conclusions
In this paper, we investigated the existence and uniqueness of solutions for a system of fractional differential equations denoted as (1). These equations are subject to nonlocal boundary conditions as specified in (2). System (1) encompasses Hilfer–Hadamard fractional derivatives that vary in orders and types, while the conditions (2) are nonlocal, featuring a combination of Riemann–Stieltjes integrals and Hadamard derivatives with varying orders. It is worth noting that these conditions are general ones, encompassing scenarios that range from uncoupled boundary conditions (in the event that all functions for and for are constants) to more complex cases that generalize multi-point boundary conditions, classical integral conditions, and various combinations thereof. In Section 2, we have provided an existence theorem for the linear fractional differential problem associated with (1) and (2). In Section 3, we have presented our primary findings, supported by rigorous proofs in which we have employed various fixed point theorems. These theorems include the Banach contraction mapping principle (applied to prove Theorem 2), the Krasnosel’skii fixed point theorem for the sum of two operators (utilized in proving Theorems 3 and 4), the Schaefer fixed point theorem (employed for Theorem 5), and the Leray–Schauder nonlinear alternative (used to establish Theorem 6). Finally, in Section 4, we have provided several illustrative examples to elucidate the implications of our main existence results. Going forward, our aim is to investigate different sets of fractional equations, which include fractional derivatives of various kinds and are subject to diverse boundary conditions.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, R.L.; Formal analysis, A.T. and R.L.; Methodology, A.T. and R.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
Data sharing is not applicable to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the referees for their valuable comments and suggestions.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
References
- Tudorache, A.; Luca, R. Positive solutions for a system of Hadamard fractional boundary value problems on an infinite interval. Axioms 2023, 12, 793. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ahmad, B.; Ntouyas, S.K. Hilfer-Hadamard fractional boundary value problems with nonlocal mixed boundary conditions. Fractal Fract. 2021, 5, 195. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Saengthong, W.; Thailert, E.; Ntouyas, S.K. Existence and uniqueness of solutions for system of Hilfer-Hadamard sequential fractional differential equations with two point boundary conditions. Adv. Differ. Equ. 2019, 2019, 525. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hadamard, J. Essai sur l’etude des fonctions donnees par leur developpment de Taylor. J. Mat. Pure Appl. Ser. 1892, 8, 101–186. [Google Scholar]
- Hilfer, R. (Ed.) Applications of Fractional Calculus in Physics; World Scientific: Singapore, 2000. [Google Scholar]
- Hilfer, R. Experimental evidence for fractional time evolution in glass forming materials. J. Chem. Phys. 2002, 284, 399–408. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hilfer, R.; Luchko, Y.; Tomovski, Z. Operational method for the solution of fractional differential equations with generalized Riemann-Liouville fractional derivatives. Frac. Calc. Appl. Anal. 2009, 12, 299–318. [Google Scholar]
- Ahmad, B.; Alsaedi, A.; Ntouyas, S.K.; Tariboon, J. Hadamard-Type Fractional Differential Equations, Inclusions and Inequalities; Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2017. [Google Scholar]
- Agarwal, R.P.; Assolami, A.; Alsaedi, A.; Ahmad, B. Existence results and Ulam-Hyers stability for a fully coupled system of nonlinear sequential Hilfer fractional differential equations and integro-multistrip-multipoint boundary conditions. Qual. Theory Dyn. Syst. 2022, 21, 125. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Almalahi, M.A.; Abdo, M.S.; Panchat, S.K. Existence and Ulam-Hyers stability results of a coupled system of ψ-Hilfer sequential fractional differential equations. Res. Appl. Math. 2021, 10, 100142. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Almalahi, M.A.; Bazighifan, O.; Panchal, S.K.; Askar, S.S.; Oros, G.I. Analytical study of two nonlinear coupled hybrid systems involving generalized Hilfer fractional operators. Fractal Fract. 2022, 5, 178. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Asawasamrit, S.; Kijjathanakorn, A.; Ntouyas, S.K.; Tariboon, J. Nonlocal boundary value problems for Hilfer fractional differential equations. Bull. Korean Math. Soc. 2018, 55, 1639–1657. [Google Scholar]
- Bachira, F.S.; Abbas, S.; Benbachir, M.; Benchohra, M. Hilfer-Hadamard fractional differential equations: Existence and attractivity. Adv. Theory Nonl. Anal. Appl. 2021, 5, 49–57. [Google Scholar]
- Boutiara, A.; Alzabut, J.; Selvan, G.M.; Vignesh, D. Analysis and applications of sequential hybrid ψ-Hilfer fractional differential equations and inclusions in Banach algebra. Qual. Theory Dyn. Syst. 2023, 22, 11–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Furati, K.M.; Kassim, N.D.; Tatar, N.E. Existence and uniqueness for a problem involving Hilfer fractional derivative. Comput. Math. Appl. 2012, 64, 1616–1626. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gu, H.; Trujillo, J.J. Existence of mild solution for evolution equation with Hilfer fractional derivative. Appl. Math. Comput. 2015, 257, 344–354. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kaewsuwan, M.; Phuwapathanapun, R.; Sudsutad, W.; Alzabut, J.; Thaiprayoon, C.; Kongson, J. Nonlocal impulsive fractional integral boundary value problem for (ρk, ϕk)-Hilfer fractional integro-differential equations. Mathematics 2022, 10, 3874. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kucche, K.D.; Mali, A.D. On the nonlinear (k, φ)-Hilfer fractional differential equations. Chaos Solitons Fractals 2021, 152, 111335. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Luca, R.; Tudorache, A. On a system of Hadamard fractional differential equations with nonlocal boundary conditions on an infinite interval. Fractal Fract. 2023, 7, 458. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Mali, A.D.; Kucche, K.D.; Sousa, J.V.C. On coupled system of nonlinear ψ-Hilfer hybrid fractional differential equations. Int. J. Nonlinear Sci. Numer. Simul. 2023, 24, 1425–1445. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Qassim, M.D.; Furati, K.M.; Tatar, N.E. On a differential equation involving Hilfer-Hadamard fractional derivative. Abstr. Appl. Anal. 2012, 2012, 391062. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Samadi, A.; Ntouyas, S.K.; Asawasamrit, S.; Tariboon, J. Existence and uniqueness for coupled systems of Hilfer type sequential fractional differential equations involving Riemann-Stieltjes integral multi-strip boundary conditions. J. Math. 2022, 2022, 7454388. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Thiramanus, P.; Ntouyas, S.K.; Tariboon, J. Positive solutions for Hadamard fractional differential equations on infinite domain. Adv. Differ. Equ. 2016, 2016, 83. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Vivek, D.; Shahb, K.; Kanagarajan, K. Dynamical analysis of Hilfer-Hadamard type fractional pantograph equations via successive approximation. J. Taibah Univ. Sci. 2019, 13, 225–230. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wang, J.; Zhang, Y. Nonlocal initial value problems for differential equations with Hilfer fractional derivative. Appl. Math. Comput. 2015, 266, 850–859. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wongcharoen, A.; Ahmad, B.; Ntouyas, S.K.; Tariboon, J. Three-point boundary value problems for Langevin equation with Hilfer fractional derivative. Adv. Math. Phys. 2020, 2020, 9606428. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, W.; Liu, W. Existence, uniqueness, and multiplicity results on positive solutions for a class of Hadamard-type fractional boundary value problem on an infinite interval. Math. Meth. Appl. Sci. 2020, 43, 2251–2275. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, W.; Ni, J. New multiple positive solutions for Hadamard-type fractional differential equations with nonlocal conditions on an infinite interval. Appl. Math. Lett. 2021, 118, 107165. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kilbas, A.A.; Srivastava, H.M.; Trujillo, J.J. Theory and Applications of Fractional Differential Equations, North-Holland Mathematics Studies; Elsevier Science B.V.: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2006; Volume 204. [Google Scholar]
- Deimling, K. Nonlinear Functional Analysis; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 1985. [Google Scholar]
- Krasnoselskii, M.A. Two remarks on the method of successive approximations. Uspekhi Mat. Nauk 1955, 10, 123–127. [Google Scholar]
- Smart, D.R. Fixed Point Theory; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 1974. [Google Scholar]
- Granas, A.; Dugundji, J. Fixed Point Theory; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 2003. [Google Scholar]
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).