Diffusion in heterogeneous media: An iterative scheme for finding approximate solutions to fractional differential equations with time-dependent coefficients

Diffusion processes in heterogeneous media, and biological systems in particular, are riddled with the difficult theoretical issue of whether the true origin of anomalous behavior is renewal or memory, or a special combination of the two. Accounting for the possible mixture of renewal and memory sources of subdiffusion is challenging from a computational point of view as well. This problem is exacerbated by the limited number of techniques available for solving fractional diffusion equations with time-dependent coefficients. We propose an iterative scheme for solving fractional differential equations with time-dependent coefficients that is based on a parametric expansion in the fractional index. We demonstrate how this method can be used to predict the long-time behavior of nonautonomous fractional differential equations by studying the anomalous diffusion process arising from a mixture of renewal and memory sources.