On the Fujita Phenomenon for a Forced Spatio-Temporal Fractional Diffusion Equation

Abstract: We study the Cauchy problem for a semilinear fractional diffusion equation with a time-dependent forcing term: [ \partial_t^αu + (-Δ)^{\mathsf{s}} u = |u|^p + t^σ\,\mathbf{w}(x), \quad (t,x) \in (0,\infty) \times \mathbb{R}^N, ] with parameters $α, \mathsf{s} \in (0,1)$, $σ&gt; -α$, and a continuous function $\mathbf{w}$. The operator $\partial_t<sup>α$ denotes the Caputo fractional derivative. Our main contributions are threefold. First, we prove the local existence of mild solutions and demonstrate a finite-time blow-up in the subcritical regime, provided $\int_{\mathbb{R}^N} \mathbf{w}(x)\,dx &gt; 0$. Second, for the supercritical case with $-α&lt; σ&lt; 0$, we establish the global existence for sufficiently small initial data and a forcing term, and we determine the critical exponent to be [ p_F=\frac{Nα-2\mathsf{s}σ}{Nα-2\mathsf{s}(α+σ)}. ] Finally, for this supercritical range, we prove a more robust global existence result under assumptions requiring only local smallness and controlled growth of the data.