ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Fractional integration

Fractional integration is a fancy word that describes a way to add up numbers in a special way. Instead of adding numbers normally, we add them in a way that helps us see patterns that we can't see otherwise.

To illustrate this, let's pretend we have a lot of numbers that we want to add together, like 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5. Normally, we would add them all up and get 15. But what if we added them up in a special way, like this:

1 + (1/2)2 + (1/3)3 + (1/4)4 + (1/5)5

This way of adding up the numbers is called fractional integration. The numbers in parentheses (1/2, 1/3, etc.) are called fractions, which are like small pieces of a whole number. By multiplying each number by a fraction that gets smaller and smaller, we can add them up in a way that reveals patterns that are hard to see otherwise.

In our example, if we add up the numbers in this special way, we get 15. But sometimes, when we use fractional integration with more complex numbers, we find that we get different answers depending on how we add up the numbers. This can help us understand how different parts of a system are related to each other and how they change over time.

Overall, fractional integration is a way of adding up numbers that helps us understand patterns in complex systems. Even though it may seem complicated at first, it can be very useful for understanding how things work in the world around us.
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