The relationship between order of

(k, s)-Riemann-Liouville fractional integral and the

fractal dimensions of a fractal function
R.Uthayakumar, A.A.Navish∗, M.Priya
Department of Mathematics, The Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Dindigul,
TamilNadu, India - 624 302.

Abstract
This paper mainly investigates the relationship between the fractal dimension and the
order of fractional integral of (m, n)- Riemann-Liouville fractional integral of the famous
fractal function known as Weierstrass function. Also this artefact addionally inspects
several approaches of using fractional calculus, especially (m, n)- Riemann-Liouville
fractional integral in science and engineering.
Keywords: (k, s)-Riemann-Liouville fractional integral, Fractal dimension,
Weierstrass function, Fractional integral

1. Introduction
Notations
Symbols Description
J The unit interval [0, 1]
φ Continuous function on J
G(φ, J) The graph of function on J
OSC(φ,J) = supx,y∈J |φ(x) − φ(y)| The oscillation of φ on interval J

2. Preparations
Definition 2.0.1. [2] Let φ be a continuous function on a finite interval [0, 1]. Then

∗
Corresponding author
Email addresses: uthayagri@gmail.com (R.Uthayakumar), aa.navish2@gmail.com
(A.A.Navish), priyamathavan777@gmail.com (M.Priya)

Preprint submitted to Elsevier December 23, 2020

(m, n) Riemann-Liouville fractional integral of φ of order α ≥ 0 is defined by
α x
(n + 1)1− m
Z
α
n α
m J0 φ(x) = (xn+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ n φ(τ )dτ, x ∈ [0, 1]
mΓm (α) 0

where m > 0, s ∈ R − {−1}.

Remark 2.0.1. [3] The definition of fractional derivatives can be defined by Definition
2.0.1. We are mainly interested in considering a fractal function, ie., the Weierstrass
function defined by
X
W (t) = λ−βj sin (λj t), 0 < β < 1, λ > 1
j≥1

Let
α x
(n + 1)1− m
Z
α
−α
D sinat = (xn+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ n sinaτ dτ = Sx (α, a)
mΓm (α) 0

denote the (m, n) RiemannLiouville fractional integral of sin at, and let
α x
(n + 1)1− m
Z
α
−α
D cosat = (xs+1 − τ s+1 ) m −1 τ n cosaτ dτ = Cx (α, a)
mΓm (α) 0

denote the (m, n) RiemannLiouville fractional integral of cosat. For λ > 1, 0 < β, α < 1
with 0 < β + α < 1.
Define X
g(t) := D−α (W (t)) = λ−βj Sx (α, λj )
j≥1

be the fractional integral of Weierstrass function W (t) of order α.

Lemma 2.0.1. [1] For Sx (α, a) and Cx (α, a), we have the following relations:
(i) Sx (α, a) = aCx (α + 1, a);
(ii) d(Sx (α, a))/dt = Sx (α − 1, a);
(iii) d(Cx (α, a))/dt = Cx (α − 1, a).
Proposition 2.0.1. [4] Let φ be continuous on J = [0, 1], 1 < s0 ≤ 2, let P = {0 =
t0 < t1 < t2 < ... < tn = 1} be a partition of J, δi = [ti−1 , ti ), |P | = max |δi |. Then we
1≤i≤n

2
have
0 0
X
K s (G(φ, J)) = lim+ inf OSC(φ, δi ) |δi |s −1
δ→0 |P |<δ P
0
where K s (G(φ, J)) denotes the K-measure of G(φ, J).
Proposition 2.0.2. [5] Let φ be continuous on J, M > 0, 0 ≤ s0 ≤ 1, suppose

|φ(x) − φ(y)| ≤ M |x − y|s (0 ≤ x, y ≤ 1)

Then
dimB (G(φ, J) ≤ 2 − s0 .
Proposition 2.0.3. [4] Let φ be continuous on J. Then
(i) dimK G(φ, J) ≤ dimB G(φ, J);
(ii) If the values of dimK G(φ, A) are equal for all open intervals of A of J. Then
dimK G(φ, J) ≤ dimP G(φ, J).
Proposition 2.0.4. Let 0 < α < 1, a > 1, J = [0, 1].
(i) Let x ∈ J. Then

(n + 1)α/m
|Sx (α, a)| ≤ , |Cx (α, a)| ≤ M a−α
αΓm (α)
  mα −2   mα −2 
4jπ 3π M h1 z (8−3/4)π (8−1/4)π
(ii) Let xj = a
,j = 2, 3, . . . , h = a
, M1 (α) = n+1 a
− a
≥
M a−1
Sxj +h1 (α, a) − Sxj (α, a) ≥ M1 (α)a−α
 α 
m −1 α α
(iii) Let x > 0, M2 = mΓm1 (α) (4π)α + (2π) m −1 + π m −1 . Then
m

|Sx0 (α, a)| ≤ M2 (α)a1−α

α
2(4π) m
(iv) Let x > 0, 0 < h < 1, M3 (α) = α.mΓm (α)
. Then

|Sx+h (α, a) − Sx (α, a)| ≤ M3 (α)a−α

Proof. We prove the proposition one by one.

3
(i)
x
(n + 1)1−α/m
Z
α
|Sx (α, a)| ≤ |(xn+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ n sinaτ |dτ
mΓm (α) 0
1−α/m Z xn+1
(n + 1) α du
≤ |(xn+1 − u) m −1 |
mΓm (α) 0 (n + 1)
α/m Z xn+1
(n + 1) α
≤ (xn+1 − u) m −1 du
mΓm (α) 0
(n + 1)α/m
≤
mΓm (α)

(ii) We may verify that

Z xj +h1
α
Sxj +h1 (α, a) − Sxj (α, a) = ((xj + h1 )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ n sinaτ dτ
xj
Z xj
α α
+ [((xj + h1 )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 − (xn+
j −τ
n+1 m −1 n
) ]τ sinaτ dτ
xj −2h1
Z xj −2h1
α α
+ [((xj + h1 )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 − (xn+
j −τ
n+1 m −1 n
) ]τ sinaτ dτ
0
= I1 + I2 + I3

Now by Lemma 2.0.1

Z (4j+3)π
a α
I1 = ((xj + h1 )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ n sinaτ dτ
4jπ
a
Z (4j+1)π
a α
= ((xj + h1 )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ n sinaτ dτ
4jπ
a
Z (4j+2)π
a α α
+ [((xj + h1 )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 − ((xj + h1 )n+1 − (τ + π/a)n+1 ) m −1 ]τ n sinaτ dτ
(4j+1)π
a
≥ 0.

4
 while by Lemma 2.0.1 again,
Z 4jπ
a α α
I2 = [((xj + h1 )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 − ((xj )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 ]τ n sinaτ dτ
(4j−6)π
a
2j−1 (2k+1)π
X Z a α α
= [((xj + h1 )n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 − ((xj + h1 )n+1 − (τ + π/a)n+1 ) m −1 ]τ n
2kπ
k=2j−3 a
α
+((xj + h1 )n+1 − (τ + π/a)n+1 ) m −1 sinaτ dτ ≥ 0.

Finally by noting (3) and using the way similar to the estimation of J(x, h) in
Lemma 2.0.1, we get for sufficiently large λ.
2j−4 Z (2k+1)π
X a α
−1
I3 ≥ M h1 a (xn+1
j − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ n sinaτ dτ
2kπ
k=0 a
"  mα −2  mα −2 #
M h1 a−1

(8 − 3/4)π (8 − 1/4)π
≥ − ≥ M a−1
n+1 a a

(iii) As we know (by Lemma 2.0.1), Sx0 (α, a) = aCx0 (α, a) = aCx (α, a). Hence
Z x+h
α
0
Sx+h (α, a) =a ((x + h)n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ n cosaτ dτ
0

2N1 +1/2
In the way similar to the proof of part (ii), by choosing N1 to satisfy a
π ≤
x + η − 2h0 < 2(N1 +1)+1/2
a
π and writing
Z x+η Z x+η
α α
−1
((x + η) n+1
−τ n+1
) m
m
τ cosaτ dτ = ((x + η)n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ m cosaτ dτ
0 x+η−2h0
Z x+η−2h0
α
+ ((x + η)n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ m cosaτ dτ
(2N1 +1/2)π
a
Z π
2a α
+ ((x + η)n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ m cosaτ dτ
0
(2j+3/2)π
N1 −1 Z
X a α
+ ((x + η)n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1
(2j+1/2)π
j=0 a
α
−((x + η)n+1 − (τ + π/a)n+1 ) m −1 τ m cosaτ dτ

5
 we see that
N 1 −1 Z
(2j+3/2)π   mα
0
X a
n+1 n+1 α
−1 m π/aτ
|Sx+η (α, a)| ≤ Ma ((x + η) −τ ) m τ 1− 1−( )n+1 dτ
j=0
(2j+1/2)π
a
x+η−τ
α
+o(ah0m )
α/m
≤ M3 ah0

by a similar argument to that of part(iii) of this theorem. Thus we have the

required result.

(iv) Conclusion for the case x ≤ 4h0 is trivial. Assume x > 4h0 . Evidently, it holds
that Z x+h
α
((x + h)n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 τ m sinaτ dτ = o(hα/m ) (1)
x
At the same time, it is also clear that
Z x Z x
α α
−1 m
n+1
((x+h) −τ ) n+1 m
τ sinaτ dτ − ((x+h)n+1 −τ n+1 ) m −1 τ m sinaτ dτ = o(hα/m )
x−2h0 x−2h0
(2)
By setting
2N0 2(N0 + 1)
π ≤ x − 2h0 < π
a a
for some N0 . We conclude that
Z x−2h0
α α
J(x, h) = [((x + h)n+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 − (xn+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1 ]τ n sin aτ dτ + o(hα/m )
0
n+1 ! mα −1

2(j+1)π
N 0 −1 Z 
X λ α h
= (xn+1 − τ n+1 ) m −1  1 +
j=0
2jπ
λ
x−τ
n+1 ! mα −1 n+1 ! mα −1

 
h − π/a π/a α
 τ n sinaτ dτ + o(h0m )
− 1+ + 1−
x−τ x−τ

Since for small β1 , β2 < 1, we have

α α α
(1 − β1 ) m −1 − 1 − (1 + β1 − β2 ) m −1 + (1 − β2 ) m −1 ≈ β1 β2 (3)

6
 It follows that
2(j+1)π
N0 −1 Z
X a α α
−1
|J(x, h)| ≤ M ha | (xn+1 − τ n+1 ) m −3 τ n sinaτ dτ | + o(h0m )
2jπ
j=0 a

n+1 ! mα −2
 
−1

M ha α
−2 x − 2h0 α
≤ α (xn+1 ) m  1− − 1 + o(h0m )
(n + 1)( m − 2) x

Proposition 2.0.5. Let λ > 1, 0 < α, β < 1, with β + α < 1, and J = [0, 1]. Then g(t)
is continuous on J.
Proof. By using Proposition 2.0.4(i), we get

X X
|g(t)| = λ−βj Sx (α, λj ) ≤ λ−βj < ∞
j≥1 j≥1

This shows the continuity of g(t).

3. Main Results
Theorem 3.0.1. Let 0 < β < 1,α < 1, with β + α < 1, λ > 1 and J = [0, 1]. Then
dimB G(g, J) ≤ 2 − β − α.
−N
Proof. For any given 0 < h < 1, there exists integer N ≥ 0 such that h ∈ [λ(N +1),λ ).
Then
N
X
|g(x + h) − g(x)| ≤ λ−βj Sx+h (α, λj ) − Sx (α, λj )
j=1
X∞
+ λ−βj Sx+h (α, λj ) − Sx (α, λj )
j=N
= 41 + 42 (4)

By the mean-value theorem and Proposition 2.0.4(iii), we get

N
X N
X
−βj 0
41 = λ h|Sx+h (α, λ)| ≤M λ−βj h(λj )1−α ≤ M hβ+α (5)
j=1 j=1

7
by Proposition 2.0.4(iv), we get
∞  β+α
X
−βj j 1−α 1
42 ≤ M λ (λ ) ≤M ≤ M hβ+α (6)
j=N +1
λN +1

Combine (4), (5) and (6), we have

|g(x + h) − g(x)| ≤ M hβ+α (7)

By (7) and Proposition 2.0.2 completing the proof of theorem 1.

Theorem 3.0.2. Let J = [0, 1], λ > 1, 0 < β, α < 1, with β + α < 1, k > 0. Then for
λ > λ0 , it holds that dimK G(g, J) ≥ 2 − β − α, where

λ0 = max{12π, λ1 , λ2 }
λ1 = (2M5 (α) + 1)1/(β+α/m)
λ2 = (2M5 (α) + 3)1/(β+α/m)
M5 (α) = 2M4 (α)/M1 (α)
M4 (α) = max{M20 (α), M3 (α)}, M20 (α) = 3πM2 (α). (8)

Proof. Let δ < 1/λ, we consider any partition P of J, for anyh given interval
 δi of P ,
λ2
 1 1

λ
there exists an integer N > 0, such that |δi | ∈ λN −1 , λN −2 = λN , λN , let R = {xj :
xj = 4jπ
λN
, j = 2, 3, . . .}, h = λ3πN . Because λ > 12π, then, there exists at least one point
xj of δi , such that xi ∈ R, and (xi , xi+1 ) ⊂ δi . Due to Proposition 2.0.4(ii), we get
α
Sxj +h (α, λN ) − Sxj (α, λN ) ≥ M1 (α)λ− m N (9)

On the other hand, we see that

|g(x + h) − g(x) − λ−βN

N
X −1
N
(Sx+h (α, λ ) − Sx (α, λ ))| ≤ N
λ−βj |Sx+h (α, λj ) − Sx (α, λj )|
j=1
∞
X
+ |Sx+h (α, λj ) − Sx (α, λj )|
j=N +1
= 41 + 42 (10)

8
by mean-value theorem and Proposition 2.0.4(iii) and (iv), we get
N
X −1 N
X
−βj
41 = λ |Sx0 (α, λj )| ≤ λ−βj hM2 (α)(λj )1−α
j=1 j=1

λ(β+α)−1
≤ M20 (α) λ−(β+α)N
1 − λ(β+α)−1
∞
X λ−(β+α)
42 = λβj M3 (α)(λj )−β ≤ M3 (α). λ−(β+α)N
j=N +1
1 − λ−(β+α)

Hence
λ(β+α)−1 λ−(β+α)
 
41 +42 ≤ M4 (α) + λ(β+α)N (11)
1 − λ(β+α)−1 1 − λ−(β+α)
Let λ(β+α)−1 = y, it is not difficult ot find that

λ(β+α)−1 λ−(β+α) λy 2 + 1
+ ≤ (12)
1 − λ(β+α)−1 1 − λ−(β+α) (1 − y)(λy − 1)

Since λ > λ0 , we have

1 2M5 (α) + 2
0<y< . < 1, (13)
2M5 (α) + 1 λy − 1

then
λy 2 + 1 1
≤ (14)
(1 − y)(λy − 1) M5 (α)
combine (9) and (14), we get

|g(x + h) − g(x) − λ−βN (Sx+h (α, λN ) − Sx (α, λN ))| ≤ 1/2M1 (α)λ−(β+α)N (15)

By combining (9) and (14), we know that there exist (xi , xi + h) ⊂ δi , such that

M1 (α) −(β+α)N
|g(xi + h) − g(xi )| ≥ M1 (α)λ−(β+α)N − λ ≥ M |δi |β+α
2
Hence
OSC(g, δi ) ≥ M |δi |β+α (16)

9
By noting Proposition 2.0.1 and (16), we get
X
M 2−β−α (G(g, J)) = lim+ inf OSC(g, δi )|δi |1−β−α ≥ M 0 (17)
δ→0 |P |<δ P

Hence dimK G(g, J) ≥ 2 − α0 − α.

Theorem 3.0.3. Let g(t) be the fractional integral of Weierstrass function W (t), 0 <
β, α < 1, with β + α < 1. Then, for λ > λ0 , it holds that

dimB G(g, J) = dimP G(g, J) = dimK G(g, J) = 2 − β − α

Theorem 3.0.4. Let g(t) be the fractional integral of Weierstrass function W (t), 0 <
β, α < 1, with β + α < 1. Then, for λ > λ0 , it holds that

dimB G(g, J) = dimP G(g, J) = dimK G(g, J) = 2 − β − α

For convenience, if the box dimension, K-dimension and the packing dimension of
a fractal function φ are equal on J, then let dim G(φ, J) denote that three dimensions.
From the Theorems 2.0.3 and 3.0.4, we have From Theorems 3 and 4, we have

dim G(g, J) = 2 − β − α (18)

On the other hands, we know from References [4, 5, 6] that

dim G(W, J) = 2 − β (19)

A combination of 18 and 19 leads to

dim G(g, J) = dim G(W, J) − α

this shows the linear connection between the order of the fractional calculus and the
fractal dimensions of graphs of the Weierstrass function.

4. Applications
? The theme of fractional calculus has a wide range of utilization in ubiquitous fields
like fluid mechanics, electromagnetics, electrochemistry, viscoelasticity, biological
population models, optics and signal processing.
? Dynamical systems that require accurate modelling of daming is handled by frac-
tional differential equations for precise modelling.

10
 ? In biological systems, the bioheat equation is continually used as a first order
model of heat transfer. During laser surgery, computation of the heat flux at the
boundary for different periodic or on-off boundary conditions that closely repre-
sent the heating and cooling of skin surface is governed by fractional differential
equation.

? To obtain information about the electrical properties of many different materials,

in particular, of liquids the most widely used technique is the electrical spec-
troscopy impedance.

5. Conclusion
The order of fractional intergral and the fractal dimension of (m, n)-Riemann-
Liouville fractional integral of Weierstrass function is connected by a linear relation.
Particularly, the box dimension, packing dimension and K-dimension of the graph of
fractional integral of Weierstrass function is established. To illustrate our result, a
numerical example is performed for the fixed value of α (order of fractional integral).

11
References
[1] Miller KS, Ross B. An introduction to the fractional calculus and fractional differ-
ential equations. New York: John WileySons Inc. 1993.

[2] k,s riemann-liouville

[3] main paper

[4] Hu TY, Lau KS. Fractal dimensions and singularities of the Weierstrass type func-
tions. Trans Amer Math Soc 1993;335(2):64965.

[5] Falconer J. Fractal geometry: mathematical foundations and applications. New

York: John Wiley Sons Inc.; 1990.

[6] Rezakhanlou F. The packing measure of the graphs and level sets of certain con-
tinuous functions. Math Proc Camb Philos Soc 1988;104:34760.

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