Darboux and generalized Darboux transformations for the fractional integrable derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation

Analytical methods provide crucial mathematical insights into the stable solitary waves hidden in nonlinear phenomena. The nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation is one of the most important typical integrable soliton models. From a mathematical perspective, the essence of the celebrated derivative NLS (DNLS) equation’s difference from the classical NLS equation lies in its cubic potential being differentiated once by the spatial variable and multiplied by the imaginary unit, which leads to the former having some characteristics that the latter cannot have. This paper extends the DNLS equation to the fractional integrable case with conformable derivative operators, and uses Darboux transformations (DTs) and generalized DT (GDT) to solve it exactly. Specifically, Lax pairs generating the fractional DNLS equation are first given. Based on the given Lax pairs, then the n-fold DTs and GDT for the fractional DNLS equation are derived. Some special exact solutions of the fractional DNLS equation are further obtained by employing the derived n-fold DTs and GDT. Finally, several novel space–time structures and dynamical evolutions of the obtained exact solutions are analyzed. This paper reveals through the DT and GDT methods that the double power-law fractional orders in the exact solutions of the fractional DNLS equation can be used to dominate the variable velocity propagation and anomalous diffusion in fractional dimensional media at different geometric scales.