A nonstandard finite difference scheme for two-sided space-fractional partial differential equations

Abstract

In this paper, we apply the Mickens nonstandard discretization method to solve a class of initial-boundary value fractional partial differential equations with variable coefficients on a finite domain, and thereby increase the accuracy of the solutions. We examine the case when a left-handed and a right-handed fractional spatial derivative may be present in the partial differential equation. Two numerical examples using this method are presented and compared successfully with the exact analytical solutions.