Galerkin finite element approximation of symmetric space-fractional partial differential equations

In this paper, symmetric space-fractional partial differential equations (SSFPDE) with the Riesz fractional operator are considered. The SSFPDE is obtained from the standard advection–dispersion equation by replacing the first-order and second-order space derivatives with the Riesz fractional derivatives of order 2β ∈ (0, 1) and 2α ∈ (1, 2], respectively. We prove that the variational solution of the SSFPDE exists and is unique. Using the Galerkin finite element method and a backward difference technique, a fully discrete approximating system is obtained, which has a unique solution according to the Lax–Milgram theorem. The stability and convergence of the fully discrete schemes are derived. Finally, some numerical experiments are given to confirm our theoretical analysis.