A HYBRID FRACTIONAL INTEGRAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOLVING NONLINEAR DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS WITH VARIABLE-ORDER OPERATORS

BackgroundFractional-order models have become essential tools for representing nonlinear dynamical systems with memory and hereditary effects. While constant-order fractional operators have been widely studied, many real-world systems exhibit memory characteristics that evolve over time or system state. Variable-order fractional calculus addresses this limitation but introduces significant analytical and numerical challenges, particularly in nonlinear settings where stability and convergence are difficult to guarantee. Existing numerical approaches often suffer from accuracy loss and instability when fractional orders vary rapidly. MethodsThis study develops a hybrid fractional integral framework for nonlinear dynamical systems governed by variable-order operators. The methodology combines multiple variable-order fractional integrals within a unified formulation to balance short-term and long-term memory effects. A predictor–corrector numerical scheme is employed to handle nonlinearities and evolving fractional orders efficiently. Rigorous theoretical analysis is conducted to establish existence, uniqueness, convergence, and stability under standard smoothness and Lipschitz assumptions. The framework is evaluated through numerical experiments on benchmark nonlinear systems with different variable-order profiles. ResultsThe proposed hybrid framework demonstrates consistently improved numerical performance compared with constant-order and single-operator variable-order methods. Results show lower global error, higher observed convergence order, and enhanced stability under oscillatory and discontinuous fractional-order variations. The method also exhibits greater robustness in strongly nonlinear regimes, where conventional schemes experience significant error amplification. Computational efficiency is improved through faster convergence, enabling accurate solutions with fewer time steps and reduced memory overhead. ConclusionThe hybrid fractional integral framework provides a stable, accurate, and flexible approach for solving nonlinear variable-order dynamical systems. By structurally integrating complementary memory operators, the method overcomes key limitations of existing approaches and offers a reliable computational foundation for modeling complex systems with adaptive memory dynamics.