On the matrices in B-spline collocation methods for Riesz fractional equations and their spectral properties

Abstract: In this work, we focus on a fractional differential equation in Riesz form discretized by a polynomial B-spline collocation method. For an arbitrary polynomial degree $p$, we show that the resulting coefficient matrices possess a Toeplitz-like structure. We investigate their spectral properties via their symbol and we prove that, like for second order differential problems, also in this case the given matrices are ill-conditioned both in the low and high frequencies for large $p$. More precisely, in the fractional scenario the symbol has a single zero at $0$ of order $\alpha$, with $\alpha$ the fractional derivative order that ranges from $1$ to $2$, and it presents an exponential decay to zero at $\pi$ for increasing $p$ that becomes faster as $\alpha$ approaches $1$. This translates in a mitigated conditioning in the low frequencies and in a deterioration in the high frequencies when compared to second order problems. Furthermore, the derivation of the symbol reveals another similarity of our problem with a classical diffusion problem. Since the entries of the coefficient matrices are defined as evaluations of fractional derivatives of the B-spline basis at the collocation points, we are able to express the central entries of the coefficient matrix as inner products of two fractional derivatives of cardinal B-splines. Finally, we perform a numerical study of the approximation behavior of polynomial B-spline collocation. This study suggests that, in line with non-fractional diffusion problems, the approximation order for smooth solutions in the fractional case is $p+2-\alpha$ for even $p$, and $p+1-\alpha$ for odd $p$.