Fractional Variational Approach for Dissipative Mechanical Systems

Abstract

More recently, a variational approach has been proposed by Lin and Wang for damping motion with a Lagrangian holding the energy term dissipated by a friction force. However, the modified Euler-Lagrange equation obtained within their formalism leads to an incorrect Newtonian equation of motion due to the nonlocality of the Lagrangian. In this communication, we generalize this approach based on the fractional actionlike variational approach and we show that under some simple restrictions connected to the fractional parameters introduced in the fractional formalism, this problem may be solved.