Arab Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences

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Closed-form travelling wave solutions to the

nonlinear space-time fractional coupled Burgers’
equation

M. Tarikul Islam, M. Ali Akbar & M. Abul Kalam Azad

To cite this article: M. Tarikul Islam, M. Ali Akbar & M. Abul Kalam Azad (2019) Closed-form
travelling wave solutions to the nonlinear space-time fractional coupled Burgers’ equation, Arab
Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 26:1, 1-11, DOI: 10.1080/25765299.2018.1523702

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/25765299.2018.1523702

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ARAB JOURNAL OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCES University of Bahrain
2019, VOL. 26, NO. 1, 1–11
https://doi.org/10.1080/25765299.2018.1523702

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Closed-form travelling wave solutions to the nonlinear space-time

fractional coupled Burgers’ equation
M. Tarikul Islama, M. Ali Akbarb and M. Abul Kalam Azadb
a
Department of Mathematics, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh; bDepartment
of Applied Mathematics, Rajshahi University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Fractional order nonlinear evolution equations play important roles to give a depiction of the Received 21 March 2018
complex physical phenomena of real world. The main aim of this article is to extract exact ana- Revised 6 September 2018
lytic solutions to the space-time fractional coupled Burgers’ equation in the sense of conform- Accepted 11 September 2018
able fractional derivative. A suitable composite transformation is implemented to reduce the
KEYWORDS
considered equation into an ordinary differential equation of fractional order. Then a new The rational fractional
approach, called the rational fractional ðDan G=GÞ-expansion method, the Exp-function method ðDan G=GÞ-expansion
and the extended tanh method, is employed to construct the closed-form solutions. This effort method; the Exp-function
makes available the travelling wave solutions in terms of hyperbolic function, trigonometric method; the extended tanh
function and rational function, which are found to be newer and more general than the exist- method; nonlinear fractional
ing results in the literature. The proposed method is highly efficient and may further be used PDEs; conformable
to invstigate entirely new solutions to many other fractional evolution equations. fractional derivative;
composite transformation

AMC CLASSIFICATION
26A33; 34A08; 35R11

1. Introduction been proposed to investigate the exact travelling

Fractional calculus was first introduced by Leibniz in
1695 as a generalization of ordinary calculus
(Diethelm, 2010). The behaviour of natural phenom-
ena at sufficiently small scales can be better described
by fractional order differential equation than the dif-
ferential equation of integer order. As a result, frac-
tional differential equations have gained considerable
popularity and importance because of their realistic
application in various fields of science and engineer-
ing, such as in signal processing, control theory, sys-
tems identification, solid state physics, condensed
matter physics, plasma physics, optical fibres, chem-
ical kinematics, electrical circuits, bio-genetics, fluid
flow and other areas (Oldham and Spanier, 1974;
Kilbas, Srivastava, & Trujillo, 2006). Researchers have
recently paid great attention to constructing closed-
form travelling wave solutions to the nonlinear evolu-
tion equations of fractional order to analyse natural
phenomena. The closed-form travelling wave solu-
tions of the fractional equations (Seadawy, 2017e;
Baleanu, Diethelm, Scalas, & Trujillo, 2012; Islam,
Akbar, & Azad, 2018; Liu, Li, Zhang, & Liu, 2015) are
very helpful for understanding the mechanisms of the
phenomena, as well as their further application in
practical life. Numerous influential methods have
wave solutions to nonlinear partial differential equa-
tions (NPDEs) of fractional order as well as integer
order, as for instance the symmetry group method (El-
Shiekh, 2018), the expðUðnÞÞ-expansion method
(Kaplan & Akbulut, 2018), the direct algebraic method
(Seadawy, 2012), the fractional sub-equation method
(Alzaidy, 2013; Mohyud-Din, Nawaz, Azhar, & Akbar,
2017; Zhang & Zhang, 2011), the extended direct alge-
braic method (Seadawy, 2014; Seadawy, 2016a;
Seadawy, 2016b), the Adomian decomposition
method (El-Sayed, Behiry, & Raslan, 2010; Hu and He,
2016), the variational iteration method (Singh and
Kumar, 2017; Tang, Fan, Zhao, & Wang, 2016), the
modified extended direct algebraic mapping
(Seadawy, 2016c), the auxiliary equation mapping
method and direct algebraic mapping method
(Seadawy & Lu 2016), the ðG0 =GÞ-expansion method
and its various modifications (Alam & Akbar, 2014;
Feng, Li, & Wan, 2011; Islam, Akbar, & Azad, 2017), the
amplitude ansatz method (Seadawy & Lu 2017;
Seadawy, 2017a), multiple scales methods (Seadawy,
2017b), the homotopy perturbation method (Cherif,
Belghaba, & Ziane, 2016; He, 1999), the extended aux-
iliary equation method (Seadawy, 2017c), the math-
ematical methods (Seadawy, 2017d). the differential

CONTACT M. Ali Akbar ali_math74@yahoo.com, alimath74@gmail.com Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi
6205, Bangladesh
ß 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the University of Bahrain.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
2 M. T. ISLAM ET AL.

transformation method (Sepasgozar, Faraji, & Valipour, method, which is the fractional version of the known
2017), the extended modified mapping method rational ðG0 =GÞ-expansion method (Islam, Akbar, &
(Seadawy, 2018), auxiliary equation method (Tariq and Azad, 2015), the Exp-function method and the
Seadawy, 2018), the finite element method (Gao, Sun, extended tanh method to investigate exact analytic
& Zhang, 2012; Huang, Huang, & Zhan, 2008), the solutions of the equation mentioned above.
finite difference method (Li, Chen, & Ye, 2011), the
exp-function method (Rahmatullah, Mohyud-Din, &
2. Explanation of the methods
Khan, 2018; He, 2013), etc.
This study investigates closed-form travelling In this section, we discuss the main steps of the sug-
wave solutions to the nonlinear space-time fractional gested methods to examine closed-form travelling
coupled Burger’s equation associated with the frac- wave solutions to nonlinear evolution equations of
tional derivative. There are many definitions on frac- fractional order. A fractional partial differential equa-
tional derivative, some of which are given below: tion in the independent variables t; x1 ; x2 ; :::; xn is
(1) Caputo defined the derivative of non-integer supposed to be as follows:
order for a function f ðxÞ as (Yang, 2012) @u1 @uk @u1 @uk
ðx Fðu1 ; :::; uk ; ; :::; ; ; :::; ; :::;
1 d n f ðt Þ @t @t @x1 @x1
Dax f ðxÞ ¼ ðxtÞna1 dt @u1 @uk a
Cðn  aÞ 0 dtn ; :::; ; D u1 ; :::; Dat uk ; Dbx1 u1 ; :::; (1)
@xn @xn t
(2) Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative (Yang,
Dbx1 uk ; :::; Dbxn u1 ; :::; Dbxn uk ; :::Þ ¼ 0;
2012) is
ð where ui ¼ ui ðt; x1 ; x2 ; :::; xn Þ; i ¼ 1; :::; k are unknown
1 dn x
Dax f ðxÞ ¼ ðxtÞna1 f ðtÞdt functions, F is a polynomial in ui and its various par-
Cðn  aÞ dtn 0
tial derivatives as well as the derivatives of frac-
This definition is modified by Jumarie as (Jumarie, tional order.
2006) The fractional composite transformation
ð  
a 1 dn x n ¼ nðt; x1 ; x2 ; :::; xn Þ; ui ¼ ui ðt; x1 ; x2 ; :::; xn Þ ¼ Ui ðnÞ;
Dx f ðxÞ ¼ ðxtÞna1 f ðtÞ  f ð0Þ dt
Cðn  aÞ dtn 0 (2)
(3) Ji-Huan He introduced the fractional derivative reduces Eq. (1) to the following ordinary differential equa-
(He, 2014) tion of fractional order with respect to the variable n:
ð
a 1 dn t   Qðu1 ; :::; uk ; Dan u1 ; :::; Dan uk ; Dbn u1 ; :::; Dbn uk ; :::;
Dt f ðxÞ ¼ ðstÞna1 f0 ðsÞ  f ðsÞ ds; (3)
Cðn  aÞ dtn t0
Dbn u1 ; :::; Dbn uk ; :::Þ ¼ 0
where f0 ðxÞ is a known function. We might integrate Eq. (3) term by term as many
(4) The conformable fractional derivative (Khalil, times possible, and the integral constant can be set
Horani, Yousef, & Sababheh, 2014) of a function f : to zero as soliton solutions are sought. Then the
½0; 1Þ ! R of order a is exact travelling wave solutions of Eq. (3) are con-
f ðt þ et1a Þf ðtÞ structed by the following three suggested methods.
Ta ðf ÞðtÞ ¼ lim ; t>0; a 2 ð0; 1:
e!0 e
If the above limit exists, then f is called a-differen- 2.1. The rational fractional
tiable. Let a 2 ð0; 1 and f ; g be a-differentiable at a ðDan G=GÞ-expansion method
point t>0, then Ta satisfies the following properties:
In this sub-section, we discuss the main steps of the
rational fractional ðDan G=GÞ-expansion method for
i. Ta ðaf þ bgÞ ¼ aTa ðf Þ þ bTa ðgÞ, for all a; b 2 R
finding exact analytic solutions of nonlinear partial
ii. Ta ðtp Þ ¼ ptpa , for all p 2 R
differential equations of fractional order.
iii. Ta ðkÞ ¼ 0, for all constant functions f ðtÞ ¼ k
Step 1: According to the rational fractional
iv. Ta ðfgÞ ¼ fTa ðgÞ þ gTa ðf Þ a
ðDn G=GÞ-expansion method, the wave solution is
v. Ta ðf =gÞ ¼ fgTa ðf ÞfTa ðgÞg=g2
supposed to be expressed in the form
vi. If, in addition, f is differentiable, then Ta ðf Þ
Pn  a i
dt ðtÞ
ðtÞ ¼ t1a df i¼0 ai Dn G=G
uðnÞ ¼ Pn  a i ; (4)
i¼0 bi Dn G=G
In this article, the conformable fractional deriva-
tive is adopted to study the nonlinear space-time where ai ’s and bi ’s are unknown constants to be deter-
fractional coupled Burgers’ equation for its travelling mined later and G ¼ GðnÞ satisfies the following auxiliary
wave solution in closed form. We make use of the nonlinear ordinary differential equation of fractional
proposed rational fractional ðDan G=GÞ-expansion order:
 ARAB JOURNAL OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCES 3

a  a 2
n GBGDn GEG C Dn G
AGD2a ¼ 0;
2 travelling wave solutions of the nonlinear evolution
(5)
equation (1) are obtained.
where Dan GðnÞ denotes the conformable fractional
derivative of order a for GðnÞ with respect to n;
A; B; C and E are real parameters. 2.2. The exp-function method
The nonlinear fractional complex transformation In this sub-section, the main steps of the Exp-func-
GðnÞ ¼ HðgÞ, g ¼ na =Cð1 þ aÞ reduces Eq. (5) into the tion method are discussed for finding closed-form
following second-order ordinary differential equation: travelling wave solutions of nonlinear partial differ-
2 ential equations of fractional order.
AHH00 BHH0 EH2 C ðH0 Þ ¼ 0; (6)
Step 1: According to the Exp-function method,
whose solutions are well known. Since ¼ Dan GðnÞ the wave solution is supposed to be expressed in
a 0 a 0
Dn HðgÞ ¼ H ðgÞDn g ¼ H ðgÞ, with the aid of the the form
solutions of Eq. (6), we can obtain the solutions of Pd
an expðnnÞ
Eq. (5) as follows: uðnÞ ¼ Pqn¼c ; (12)
Family 1: When B 6¼ 0, w ¼ AC and X ¼ B2 þ 4E, m¼p m expðmnÞ
b
ðACÞ>0, where p, q, c and d are positive integers which are
 pffiffiffi a   pffiffiffi a 
pffiffiffiffi Xn Xn known to be further determined, an and bm are
 a  B X C1 sinh 2ACðaþ1Þ
þ C2 cosh 2ACðaþ1Þ
Dn G=G ¼ þ  pffiffiffi a   pffiffiffi a  unknown constants.
2w 2w C cosh Xn
þ C2 sinh 2ACXðaþ1
n
1 2ACðaþ1Þ Þ Step 2: Balance the linear term of lowest order of
(7) Eq. (3) with the lowest order nonlinear term to deter-
mine the values of c and p. Similarly, to determine the
Family 2: When B 6¼ 0, w ¼ AC and X ¼ B2 þ 4E,
values of d and q, balance the linear term of highest
ðACÞ<0,
 pffiffiffiffiffiffi a   pffiffiffiffiffiffi a 
order of Eq. (3) with highest order nonlinear term.
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Xn Xn Step 3: Substituting Eq. (12) into Eq. (3) with the
  B X C1 sin 2ACðaþ1Þ þ C2 cos 2ACðaþ1Þ
Dan G=G ¼ þ  pffiffiffiffiffiffi a   pffiffiffiffiffiffi a  values of c; d; p and q obtained in step 2, we obtain
2w 2w C cos Xn
þ C2 sin 2ACX n
1 2ACðaþ1Þ ðaþ1Þ polynomials in ern , for any integer r. Equating like
(8) terms to zero gives a system of algebraic equations
Family 3: When B 6¼ 0, w ¼ AC and X ¼ B2 þ 4E, for ai and bi . Solve this system for ai and bi by means
of the symbolic computation software, such as Maple.
ðACÞ ¼ 0,
pffiffiffiffi Step 4: Substituting the values that appeared in step
 a  B X Cða þ 1ÞC2 3 into Eq. (12), we obtain closed-form travelling wave
Dn G=G ¼ þ (9)
2w 2w C1 Cða þ 1Þ þ C2 na solutions of the nonlinear evolution equation (1).
Family 4: When B ¼ 0, w ¼ AC and D ¼ wE>0,
 pffiffiffi a   pffiffiffi a 
pffiffiffiffi Dn Dn 2.3. The extended tanh method
 a  D C1 sinh ACðaþ1Þ þ C2 cosh ACðaþ1Þ
Dn G=G ¼  pffiffiffi a   pffiffiffi a  In this sub-section, the main steps of the extended
w C cosh Dn
þ C sinh Dn
1 ACðaþ1Þ 2 ACðaþ1Þ tanh method are discussed for obtaining exact ana-
(10) lytic wave solutions of nonlinear partial differential
equations of fractional order.
Family 5: When B ¼ 0, w ¼ AC and D ¼ wE<0,
 pffiffiffiffiffi a   pffiffiffiffiffi a  Step 1: Suppose the wave solution is expressed as
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Dn Dn
 a  D C 1 sin ACðaþ1Þ
þ C 2 cos ACðaþ1Þ X
n X
n
Dn G=G ¼  pffiffiffiffiffi a   pffiffiffiffiffi a  uðnÞ ¼ ai Y i þ bi Y i ; (13)
w C cos Dn
þ C sin Dn
1 ACðaþ1Þ 2 ACðaþ1Þ i¼0 i¼1

(11) for which

Step 2: Determine the positive constant n by
taking homogeneous balance between the highest
order linear and nonlinear terms appearing in Eq. (3).
Step 3: Utilize Eqs. (4) and (5) into Eq. (3) with the
value of n obtained in step 2, we obtain polynomial
in Dan G=G. Setting each coefficient of the resulted
polynomial to zero gives a system of algebraic equa-
tions for ai ’s and bi ’s. Solve this system of equations
for ai ’s and bi ’s by means of the symbolic computa-
tion software, such as Maple.
Step 4: Inserting the values of ai ’s and bi ’s into
Eq. (4) along with Eqs. (7)–(11), the closed-form
Y ¼ tanhðlnÞ; (14)
where l is any arbitrary constant.
Step 2: Substituting Eq. (13) along with (14) into
Eq. (3) with the value of n obtained at step 2 in 2.1.,
we obtain polynomial in Y. Setting each coefficient
of the resulted polynomial to zero gives a set of
algebraic equations for ai ’s and bi ’s. Solve this set of
equations for ai ’s and bi ’s by means of the symbolic
computation software, such as Maple.
Step 3: Insert the values that appeared in step 3
into Eq. (13) along with Eq. (14) to construct exact
travelling wave solutions to Eq. (1).
4 M. T. ISLAM ET AL.

3. Formulation of the solutions wDan uk2 D2a a a

n u þ 2kuDn u þ klDn ðuv Þ ¼ 0
; (17)
wDn vk Dx v þ 2kvDn v þ kmDan ðuvÞ ¼ 0
a 2 2a a
In this section, we employ the proposed rational
fractional ðDan G=GÞ-expansion method, the Exp-func- Now, construct the solutions as follows.
tion method and the extended tanh method to
examine the travelling wave solutions to the follow-
ing nonlinear space-time fractional coupled Burgers’ 3.1. Solutions through rational fractional
equation: ðDan G=GÞ-expansion method

Dat uD2a a a Considering the homogeneous balance between the

x u þ 2uDx u þ lDx ðuv Þ ¼ 0 ; (15)
Dt vDx v þ 2vDx v þ mDax ðuvÞ ¼ 0
a 2a a highest order derivative and the highest order non-
linear term appearing in Eq. (17), the solution Eq. (4)
which have appeared as model equation in mathem- takes the form
atical physics (Esipov, 1995). It is very significant that 9
the system is a simple model of sedimentation or a0 þ a1 Dan G=G >
>
uðnÞ ¼ >
evolution of scaled volume concentrations of two b0 þ b1 Dan G=G =
: (18)
kinds of particles in fluid suspensions or colloids, c0 þ c1 Dan G=G >
>
vðnÞ ¼ >
;
under the effect of gravity (Nee and Duan, 1998). d0 þ d1 Dan G=G
The constants l and m depend on system parameters
Substituting Eq. (18) into Eq. (17), the left-hand
such as the Peclet number, the Stokes velocity of
side is converted into a polynomial in Dan G=G.
particles due to gravity, and the Brownian diffusivity.
Setting each coefficient of this polynomial to zero
Making use of the fractional compound transform-
yields an over-determined set of algebraic equations
ation
for a0 ; a1 ; b0 ; b1 ; c0 ; c1 ; d0 ; d1 ; w and k. Solving this set
uðx; tÞ ¼ uðnÞ; n ¼ k1=a x þ w1=a t; (16) of equations with the aid of symbolic computation
software, such as Maple, we obtain the following
Eq. (15) is converted into the fractional order
results:
ODE,

   
kðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B þ a1 b0 Aðlm1Þ k kðl1Þð2b0 w þ b1 BÞ þ 2a1 Aðlm1Þ
Set 1 : a0 ¼ ;w ¼  ;
 b1 Aðlm  1Þ   b1 Aðl  1Þ (19)
d0 ðm1Þ kðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B þ a1 b0 Aðlm1Þ a1 d0 ðm1Þ b1 d0
c0 ¼ ; c1 ¼ ; d1 ¼ ;
Ab0 b1 ðl  1Þðlm  1Þ b0 ðl  1Þ b0
where a1 ; b0 ; b1 ; d0 and k are all arbitrary constants.
b0 kðl1Þw a0 d0 ðm1Þ d0 kðm1Þw
Set2 : a1 ¼  ; b1 ¼ 0; c0 ¼ ; c1 ¼  ; d1 ¼ 0;
Aðlm  1Þ  b 0 ðl  1 Þ  Aðlm  1Þ (20)
k 2a0 Aðlm1Þkb0 Bðl1Þ
w¼ ;
b0 Aðl  1Þ
where a0 ; b0 ; d0 and k are all arbitrary constants.
c1 a0 d1 a0 ðm1Þ c0 Aðlm1Þ
Set 3 : a1 ¼ ; b0 ¼ 0; b1 ¼ ; d0 ¼ 0; k ¼  ;
c0 c0 ðl  1Þ d 1 E ðm  1 Þ
(21)
c0 ðlm1Þðc0 B2c1 E Þ
w¼ 2
;
d1 2 E2 ðm1Þ
where a0 ; c0 ; c1 and d1 are all arbitrary constants.
Inserting the values that appeared in Eq. (19) into solution Eq. (18) yields
  9
a1 kðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
uðnÞ ¼ þ   >
=
ð Þ a
b1 b1 A lm  1 b0 þ b1 Dn G=G
  (22)
a1 ðm1Þ kðm1Þ b0 wb1 E þ b0 b1 B >
2 2
vðnÞ ¼ þ   >>
;
b 1 ðl  1 Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 þ b1 Dan G=G

Eq. (22) along with Eq. (7) after simplification provides the following exact travelling wave solutions accord-
ing as C1 ¼ 0 but C2 6¼ 0 and C1 6¼ 0 but C2 ¼ 0:
 ARAB JOURNAL OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCES 5

  9
a1 2kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u1 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi a  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xcoth Xn =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  (23)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v1 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xcoth Xna =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  9
a1 2kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u2 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xtanh Xna =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  (24)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v2 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xtanh Xna =2ACð1 þ aÞ

Using the value of n, Eqs. (23) and (24) possess

  9
a1 2kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u1 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xcoth Xðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞa =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  (25)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v1 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xcoth Xðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  9
a1 2kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u2 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xtanh Xðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞa =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  ; (26)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v2 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xtanh Xðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ =2ACð1 þ aÞ
where w ¼  kfkðl1Þð2b0 wþb 1 BÞþ2a1 Aðlm1Þg
b1 Aðl1Þ and k is arbitrary constant.
Eq. (22) with the aid of Eq. (8) after simplification gives the following closed-form travelling wave solutions
under the conditions C1 ¼ 0 but C2 6¼ 0 and C1 6¼ 0 but C2 ¼ 0:
  9
a1 2kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u3 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xcot Xn =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  (27)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 w  b1 E þ b0 b1 B
2 2 >
>
v3 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xcot Xna =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  9
a1 2kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u4 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B  b1 X tan X n =2ACð 1 þ a Þ
  (28)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
ð
v4 n ¼Þ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B  b1 X tan Xn =2ACð1 þ aÞ
The substitution of the value for n in Eqs. (27) and (28) provides
  9
a1 2kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u3 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xcot Xðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞa =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  (29)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm  1Þ b0 2 w  b1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v3 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B þ b1 Xcot Xðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ =2ACð1 þ aÞ
  9
a1 2kwðl1Þ b0 2 w  b1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u4 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B  b1 X tan
 Xðk1=a x þ w1=a  tÞ =2ACð1 þ aÞ ; (30)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 2 w  b1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v4 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ 2b0 w þ b1 B  b1 X tan Xðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ =2ACð1 þ aÞ
where w ¼  kfkðl1Þð2b0 wþb 1 BÞþ2a1 Aðlm1Þg
b1 Aðl1Þ and k is arbitrary constant.
Eq. (22) together with Eq. (9) possesses the wave solution
  9
a1 kðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u5 ðnÞ ¼ þ >
>
b1 B C2 Cð1 þ aÞ >
>
b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 þ b1 þ a
>
=
 2w C1 Cð1 þ aÞ þ C2 n (31)
ð
a1 m1 Þ ð Þ
k m1 b0 wb1 E þ b0 b1 B
2 2 >
>
v5 ðnÞ ¼ þ >
>
b1 ðl  1Þ B C2 Cð1 þ aÞ >
>
b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 þ b1 þ >
;
2w C1 Cð1 þ aÞ þ C2 na
6 M. T. ISLAM ET AL.

Putting the value of n in Eq. (31), we obtain

  9
a1 kðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u5 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ !! >
>
b1 C2 Cð1 þ aÞ >
>
b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 þ b1
B
þ >
>
>
=
2w C1 Cð1 þ aÞ þ C2 ðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞa
  ; (32)
a1 ðm1Þ kðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
v5 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ !! >
>
>
b1 ðl  1Þ C2 Cð1 þ aÞ >
>
B >
>
b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 þ b1 þ a >
;
2w C1 Cð1 þ aÞ þ C2 ðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ

where w ¼  kfkðl1Þð2b0 wþb 1 BÞþ2a1 Aðlm1Þg

b1 Aðl1Þ and k is arbitrary constant.
Eq. (22) with the help of Eq. (10) after simplification possesses the following exact travelling wave solutions
as C1 ¼ 0 but C2 6¼ 0 and C1 6¼ 0 but C2 ¼ 0:
  9
a1 kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u6 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi a  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dcoth Dn =ACð1 þ aÞ
  (33)
a1 ðm1Þ kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
v6 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi a  >
>
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dcoth Dn =ACð1 þ aÞ
  9
a1 kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u7 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dtanh Dna =ACð1 þ aÞ
  (34)
a1 ðm1Þ kwðm1Þ b0 wb1 E þ b0 b1 B
2 2 >
v7 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi a  >
>
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dtanh Dn =ACð1 þ aÞ

Utilizing the value of n, Eqs. (33) and (34) become

  9
a1 kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u6 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dcoth Dðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞa =ACð1 þ aÞ
  (35)
a1 ðm1Þ kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v6 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dcoth Dðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ =ACð1 þ aÞ
  9
a1 kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u7 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dtanh Dðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞa =ACð1 þ aÞ
  ; (36)
a1 ðm1Þ kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v7 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dtanh Dðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ =ACð1 þ aÞ
where w ¼  kfkðl1Þð2b0 wþb 1 BÞþ2a1 Aðlm1Þg
b1 Aðl1Þ and k is arbitrary constant.
Eq. (22) along with Eq. (11) under the conditions C1 ¼ 0 but C2 6¼ 0 and C1 6¼ 0 but C2 ¼ 0 gives the travel-
ling wave solutions
  9
a1 kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u8 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dcot Dna =ACð1 þ aÞ
  (37)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
ð Þ
v8 n ¼ þ p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dcot Dna =ACð1 þ aÞ
  9
a1 kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u9 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w  b1 D tan D n =AC ð 1 þ a Þ
  (38)
a1 ðm1Þ kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
v9 ðnÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
>
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w  b1 D tan Dn =ACð1 þ aÞ
Making use of the value of n, Eqs. (37) and (38) provide
  9
a1 kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u8 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  >
=
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dcot Dðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞa =ACð1 þ aÞ
  (39)
a1 ðm1Þ 2kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v8 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w þ b1 Dcot Dðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ =ACð1 þ aÞ
  9
a1 kwðl1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
u9 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  >
=
1=a a
 Dðk x þ w tÞ =ACð1 þ aÞ
b1 b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w  b1 D tan 1=a
; (40)
a1 ðm1Þ kwðm1Þ b0 2 wb1 2 E þ b0 b1 B >
>
v9 ðx; tÞ ¼ þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a  >
;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 Aðlm  1Þ b0 w  b1 D tan Dðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ =ACð1 þ aÞ
where w ¼  kfkðl1Þð2b0 wþb 1 BÞþ2a1 Aðlm1Þg
b1 Aðl1Þ and k is arbitrary constant.
 ARAB JOURNAL OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCES 7

In a similar procedure, Eqs. (20) and (21) with the aid of Eq. (18) along with the Eqs. (7)–(11) also provide
exact travelling wave solutions to the suggested equation. For simplicity and for the convenience of the
reader, all the solutions have not been recorded here.

3.2. Solutions by the exp-function method

Making use of the homogeneous balance the solution Eq. (12) takes the form
a1 en þ a0 þ a1 en
uðnÞ ¼ (41)
b1 en þ b0 þ b1 en
c1 en þ c0 þ c1 en
vðnÞ ¼ (42)
d1 en þ d0 þ d1 en
Substituting Eqs. (41), (42) into Eq. (17), the left-hand side becomes a polynomial in enn , where n is any
integer. Setting each coefficient of this polynomial to zero yields a set of algebraic equations (for simplicity,
not shown here) for ai 0 s; bi 0 s; ci 0 s; di 0 s; k and w. Solving this over-determined set of equations with the aid of
computer algebra, like Maple, provides the following results:
b1 ðk2 wÞðl1Þ b0 ðk2 þ wÞðl1Þ
Set 1 : a1 ¼ ; a0 ¼  ; a1 ¼ 0; b1 ¼ 0; c1 ¼ 0;
2kðlm  1Þ 2kðlm  1Þ (43)
b1 d1 ðk2 wÞðm1Þ d1 ðk2 þ wÞðm1Þ b1 d1
c0 ¼ ; c1 ¼  ; d1 ¼ 0; d0 ¼ ;
ð
2b0 k lm  1 Þ ð
2k lm  1 Þ b0
where b1 ; b0 ; d1 ; k and w are all free parameters.
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
a1 wðlm1Þ a1 b1 wðl1Þ7a0 2 wðlm1Þ
Set 2 : a1 ¼ 0; b1 ¼ 6 ; b0 ¼ ;
wðl  1Þ a0ffi wðl  1Þ
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (44)
a0 d1 ðm1Þ a0 d1 wðlm1Þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
c1 ¼ 0; c0 ¼ ; c1 ¼ 0; d1 ¼ 0; d0 ¼ 6 ; k ¼ 7 w;
b1 ðl  1Þ b1 wðl  1Þ
where a1 ; a0 ; b1 ; d1 and w are all free parameters.
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
b0 c0 ðl1Þ b0 c0 wðlm1Þ
Set3 : a1 ¼ ; a0 ¼ 0; a1 ¼ 0; b1 ¼ 6 ; b1 ¼ 0; c1 ¼ 0; c1 ¼ 0; d1 ¼ 0;
d1 ðm  1Þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi d1 wðm  1Þ (45)
c0 wðlm1Þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
d0 ¼ 6 ; k ¼ 7 w;
w ðm  1 Þ
where b0 ; c0 ; d1 and w are all free parameters.
Using the values that appeared in Eq. (43) into Eqs. (41), (42), we construct the following closed-form travel-
ling wave solutions:
l1 b1 ðk2 wÞen b0 ðk2 þ wÞ
u1 ðnÞ ¼ : (46)
2kðlm  1Þ b1 en þ b0
m1 b1 ðk2 wÞb0 ðk2 þ wÞen
v1 ðnÞ ¼ : (47)
2kðlm  1Þ b1 þ b0 en
pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
If we assign the parameters as b1 ¼ b0 , k ¼ 2, w ¼ 1 in Eq. (46) and b1 ¼ b0 , k ¼ 2, w ¼ 1 in Eq.
(47), then after simplification we obtain
l1
u1 ðnÞ ¼  ð1 þ 2tanhn=2Þ (48)
2kðlm  1Þ
m1
v1 ðnÞ ¼ ð12tanhn=2Þ (49)
2k lm  1Þ
ð
The substitution of the value for n in Eqs. (48), (49) yields
n   o
l1
u1 ðx; tÞ ¼  1 þ 2tanh k1=a x þ w1=a t =2 (50)
2kðlm  1Þ
n   o
m1
v1 ðx; tÞ ¼ 12tanh k x þ w t =2
1=a 1=a
(51)
2kðlm  1Þ
Inserting the values appearing in Eq. (44) into Eqs. (41) and (42) provides the following exact travelling
wave solutions:
8 M. T. ISLAM ET AL.

 
a0 wðl1Þ a1 en þ a0
u2;3 ðnÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (52)
6a0 wðlm  1Þða1 en  a0 Þ þ a1 b1 wðl  1Þ
a0 wðm1Þ
v2;3 ðnÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (53)
6a0 w lm  1Þ þ b1 wðl  1Þen
ð

Choose a1 ¼ a0 in Eq. (52) and b1 ¼ a0 in Eq. (53), then after simplification, we have the solutions
a0 wðl1Þðcoshnsinhn þ 1Þ
u2;3 ðnÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (54)
6a0 wðlm  1Þðcoshn  sinhn  1Þ þ b1 wðl  1Þ
wðm1Þ
v2;3 ðnÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (55)
6 w lm  1 þ wðl  1Þðcoshn þ sinhnÞ
ð Þ

After substituting the value of n, Eqs. (54), (55) possess the wave solutions
 
a0 wðl1Þ coshðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞsinhðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ þ 1
u2;3 ðx; tÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   (56)
6a0 wðlm  1Þ coshðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ  sinhðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ  1 þ a1 b1 wðl  1Þ
wðm1Þ
v2;3 ðx; tÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   (57)
6 w lm  1 þ w l  1 coshðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ þ sinhðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ
ð Þ ð Þ
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where k ¼ 7 w and w is arbitrary constant.
Substituting Eq. (44) into Eqs. (41), (42) gives the following wave solutions:
c0 wðl1Þ
u4;5 ðnÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (58)
6c0 wðlm  1Þen þ d1 wðm  1Þ
c0 wðm1Þ
v4;5 ðnÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (59)
6c0 w lm  1Þ þ d1 wðm  1Þen
ð

Putting d1 ¼ c0 in Eqs. (58), (59) and simplifying we achieve the wave solutions
wðl1Þ
u4;5 ðnÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (60)
6 wðlm  1Þðcoshn  sinhnÞ þ wðm  1Þ
wðm1Þ
v4;5 ðnÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (61)
ð Þ
6 w lm  1 þ wðm  1Þðcoshn þ sinhnÞ
Using the value of n, Eqs. (60) and (61) become
wðl1Þ
u4;5 ðx; tÞ ¼
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   (62)
6 w lm  1 cosh k x þ w tÞ  sinhðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ þ wðm  1Þ
ð Þ ð 1=a 1=a

wðm1Þ
v4;5 ðx; tÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   (63)
6 wðlm  1Þ þ wðm  1Þ coshðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ þ sinhðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞ
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where k ¼ 7 w and w is arbitrary constant.
The above obtained solutions containing many free parameters are new and more general than exist-
ing results.

3.3. Solutions constructed by the extended tanh method

The homogeneous balance reduces the solution Eq. (13) to the form
uðnÞ ¼ a0 þ a1 Y þ b1 Y 1
(64)
v ðnÞ ¼ c0 þ c1 Y þ d1 Y 1

Substituting Eq. (64) into Eq. (17) along with Eq. (14), the left-hand side becomes a polynomial in Y. Setting
each coefficient of this polynomial to zero, yields a set of algebraic equations (for simplicity, not shown here)
for a0 ; a1 ; b1 ; c0 ; c1 ; d1 ; k and w. Solving this over-determined set of equations with the aid of computer alge-
bra, like Maple, provides the following results:
wðl1Þ klðl1Þ klðl1Þ wðm1Þ
set 1 : a0 ¼  ; a1 ¼  ; b1 ¼  ; c0 ¼  ;
2kðlm  1Þ lm  1 lm  1 2kðlm  1Þ (65)
klðm1Þ klðm1Þ
c1 ¼  ; d1 ¼  ;
lm  1 lm  1
where k and w are arbitrary constants.
 ARAB JOURNAL OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCES 9

wðl1Þ klðl1Þ wðm1Þ

set 2 :a0 ¼  ; a1 ¼  ; b1 ¼ 0; c0 ¼  ;
2kðlm  1Þ lm  1 2kðlm  1Þ (66)
klðm1Þ
c1 ¼  ; d1 ¼ 0;
lm  1
where k and w are arbitrary constants.

wðl1Þ klðl1Þ wðm1Þ

set 3 :a0 ¼  ; a1 ¼ 0; b1 ¼  ; c0 ¼  ;
ð
2k lm  1Þ lm  1 2kðlm  1Þ (67)
klðm1Þ
c1 ¼ 0; d1 ¼  ;
lm  1
where k and w are arbitrary constants.
Using Eq. (65) into Eq. (64) together with Eq. (14), we have the following solitary wave solutions:

h 9
l1  i >
u1 ðnÞ ¼  w þ 2k l tanhðlnÞ þ cothðlnÞ >
2
=
2kðlm  1Þ h i (68)
m1   >
v1 ðnÞ ¼  w þ 2k2 l tanhðlnÞ þ cothðlnÞ > ;
ð
2k lm  1Þ

Using the value of n, Eq. (68) becomes

9
l1 >
u1 ðx; tÞ ¼  ½w þ 2k lftanhðlðk x þ w tÞÞ þ cothðlðk x þ w tÞÞg >
2 1=a 1=a 1=a 1=a
=
2kðlm  1Þ
(68)
m1 >
v1 ðx; tÞ ¼  ½w þ 2k2 lftanhðlðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞÞ þ cothðlðk1=a x þ w1=a tÞÞg >
;
2kðlm−1Þ

where k and w are arbitrary constants.

Substituting Eq. (66) into Eq. (64) along with Eq. (14), provides the solutions
9
l1  >
u2 ðnÞ ¼  w þ 2k ltanhðlnÞ >
2
=
2kðlm  1Þ (70)
m1   >
v2 ðnÞ ¼  w þ 2k2 ltanhðlnÞ >;
2kðlm  1Þ

Putting the value of n in Eq. (70) yields

l1
h n  oi 9>
u2 ðx; tÞ ¼  w þ 2k ltanh l k x þ w t
2 1=a 1=a >
=
ð Þ
2k lm  1 h n  oi
m1  >
(71)
v2 ðx; tÞ ¼  w þ 2k2 ltanh l k1=a x þ w1=a t >
;
ð
2k lm  1 Þ

where k and w are arbitrary constants.

Inserting Eq. (67) into Eq. (64) together with Eq. (14) gives the following solitary wave solutions:
9
l1  >
u 3 ðn Þ ¼  w þ 2k lcothðlnÞ >
2
=
2kðlm  1Þ (72)
m1  >
v3 ðnÞ ¼  w þ 2k2 lcothðlnÞ >
;
ð
2k lm  1 Þ

Use the value of n in Eq. (72) yields

l1
h n  o i 9>
u3 ðx; tÞ ¼  w þ 2k lcoth l k x þ w t
2 1=a 1=a >
=
ð Þ
2k lm  1 h n  o i
m1  >
(73)
v3 ðx; tÞ ¼  w þ 2k2 lcoth l k1=a x þ w1=a t >
;
2kðlm  1Þ

where k and w are arbitrary constants.

The above solutions obtained by the extended tanh method are new and more general. As far as we
know, these results have not been recorded in the previous literature.
10 M. T. ISLAM ET AL.
4. Conclusions
The solutions achieved throughout this article are
new and more general than those obtained by
others in the literature (Bekir and Guner, 2014). The
mechanisms of complex nonlinear physical phenom-
ena that occur in nature may effectively be eluci-
dated by these solutions. Among the three methods
implemented to study the space-time fractional
coupled Burgers’ equation for closed-form travelling
wave solutions, the proposed rational fractional
ðDan G=GÞ-expansion method is most useful, though
the other two methods also show good perform-
ance. The new approach introduced in this article
has shown efficiency and reliability, and may make a
major contribution in investigating many other non-
linear evolution equations of fractional order emerg-
ing in various fields of science and engineering.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by
the authors.
ORCID
M. Ali Akbar http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5688-6259
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