From Fractals to Fractional Calculus: Nonlinear Dynamics and Hybrid Complex Systems

A special issue of Fractal and Fractional (ISSN 2504-3110). This special issue belongs to the section "General Mathematics, Analysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 December 2025 | Viewed by 137

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Mechanics, Mathematical Institute of Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
2. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Niš, 18000 Nis, Serbia
Interests: nonlinear science; mechanics; elastodynamics; electromechanical systems; fractional calculus

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Beautiful images of fractals began to gain notoriety in the scientific literature three and a half decades ago with the widespread development of approximate numerical methods and software tools for solving systems of nonlinear differential equations. Today, the application of numerical methods reveals many nonlinear and rare phenomena and singularities in the dynamics of nonlinear dynamic systems. By reaffirming the differentiation of the fractional order in its application to the dynamics of continuums and discrete dynamic systems, we discover the benefits of elements of mathematical phenomenology and analogies in the dynamics of hybrid systems of complex structures in natural–mathematical, technical–technological, as well as biomedical sciences.

The goal of this Special Issue is to publish papers whose contents show similarities and analogies in the elements of mathematical phenomenology in various fields of science.

Topics that are invited for submission include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Elements of the mathematical phenomenology and mapping of dynamics models in natural, mathematical, and technical sciences (model analogies);
  • Mathematical foundations of fractals and the fractional analysis of approximate solutions of nonlinear dynamics;
  • Fractals and applications;
  • Complex models of fractional-type materials;
  • Phenomena and modes in the dynamics of discrete and continuous dynamic systems as well as in nonlinear and fractional-type ones;
  • Modes of dynamics of fractional-type systems, both independent and with interactions;
  • Energy transfer between modes;
  • Dynamics of hybrid systems of complex structures;
  • Biological oscillators—linear, nonlinear, and fractional-type piezoelectric models.

Prof. Dr. Katica (Stevanović) Hedrih
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • fractals
  • nonlinear dynamics
  • fractional calculus
  • mathematical phenomenology
  • hybrid systems
  • complex structures
  • discrete and continuous dynamic systems

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

56 pages, 6217 KiB  
Article
Rheologic Fractional Oscillators or Creepers
by Katica R. (Stevanović) Hedrih
Fractal Fract. 2025, 9(8), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/fractalfract9080552 - 21 Aug 2025
Abstract
Using the newly introduced, by the author, basic complex and hybrid complex rheologic models of the fractional type, the dynamics of a series of mechanical rheologic discrete dynamical systems of the fractional type (RDDSFT) of rheologic oscillators (ROFTs) or creepers (RCFTs), with corresponding [...] Read more.
Using the newly introduced, by the author, basic complex and hybrid complex rheologic models of the fractional type, the dynamics of a series of mechanical rheologic discrete dynamical systems of the fractional type (RDDSFT) of rheologic oscillators (ROFTs) or creepers (RCFTs), with corresponding independent generalized coordinates (IGCs) and external (IGCEDF) and internal (IGCIGF) degrees of freedom of movement, were studied. Laplace transformations of solutions for independent generalized coordinates (IGCs), as well as external (IGCEDFs) and internal (IGCIDF) degrees of freedom of system dynamics, were determined. On the studied specimens, it was shown that rheologic complex models of the fractional type introduce internal degrees of freedom into the dynamics of rheologic discrete dynamical systems. New challenges appear for mathematicians, such as translating the Laplace transformations of solutions for independent generalized coordinates (LTIGCs) into the time domain. A number of translations of Laplace transformations of solutions into the time domain were performed by the author of this paper. A series of characteristic surfaces of elongations of Laplace transformations of independent generalized coordinates (IGCs) of the dynamics of rheologic discrete dynamic systems of the rheologic oscillator type, i.e., the rheologic creeper type, is shown as a function of fractional order differentiation exponent and Laplace transformation parameter. This manuscript presents the scientific results of theoretical research on the dynamics of rheologic discrete dynamic systems of the fractional type that was conducted using new models and a rigorous mathematical analytical analysis with fractional-order differential equations (DEFOs) and Laplace transformations (LTs). These results can contribute to new experimental research and materials technologies. A separate section presents the theoretical foundations of the methods and methodologies used in this research, without the details that can be found in the author’s previously published works. Full article
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