New exact solutions of differential equations derived by fractional calculus

Fractional calculus generalizes the derivative and antiderivative operations dn/dzn of differential and integral calculus from integer orders n to the entire complex plane. Methods are presented for using this generalized calculus with Laplace transforms of complex-order derivatives to solve analytically many differential equations in physics, facilitate numerical computations, and generate new infinite-series representations of functions. As examples, new exact analytic solutions of differential equations, including new generalized Bessel equations with complex-power-law variable coefficients, are derived.