Approximate self-similar solutions to a nonlinear diffusion equation with time-fractional derivative

• We derive an approximation of a solution to a nonlinear fractional diffusion equation.
• The method we use can be generalized to different problems in self-similar analysis.
• Our analytical results are very accurate; this is confirmed by numerical analysis.

In this paper, we consider a fractional nonlinear problem for anomalous diffusion. The diffusion coefficient we use is of power type, and hence the investigated problem generalizes the porous-medium equation. A generalization is made by introducing a fractional time derivative. We look for self-similar solutions for which the fractional setting introduces other than classical space–time scaling. The resulting similarity equations are of nonlinear integro-differential type. We approximate these equations by an expansion of the integral operator and by looking for solutions in a power function form. Our method can be easily adapted to solve various problems in self-similar diffusion. The approximations obtained give very good results in numerical analysis. Their simplicity allows for easy use in applications, as our fitting with experimental data shows. Moreover, our derivation justifies theoretically some previously used empirical models for anomalous diffusion.