Variational principle of stationary action for fractional nonlocal media and fields

Derivatives and integrals of non-integer orders have a wide application to describe complex properties of physical systems and media including nonlocality of power-law type and long-term memory. We suggest an extension of the standard variational principle for fractional nonlocal media with power-law type nonlocality that is described by the Riesz-type derivatives of non-integer orders. As examples of application of the suggested variational principle, we consider an N-dimensional model of waves in anisotropic fractional nonlocal media, and a one-dimensional continuum (string) with power-law spatial dispersion. The main advantage of the suggested fractional variational principle is that it is connected with microstructural lattice approach and the lattice fractional calculus, which is recently proposed.