What the Heck is a Half Derivative?

Fractional Calculus is easier than you think

Aidan Lytle

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Fractional derivatives of sin(nx). Note that the function is phase shifted. Just as the derivative shifts by 90 degrees, the fractional derivative interpolates that, and preserves the chain rule in the way we want.

When we think of a derivative, what exactly is the thing we think of?

Note: this article is a flyover bird’s eye view of some elementary fractional calculus. Most of the material is stuff I covered in my undergraduate thesis, which you can DM me for if you are interested.

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Aidan Lytle

Mathematician out of NC. Read and write philosophy and social theory.