Numerical approximation of higher-order time-fractional telegraph equation by using a combination of a geometric approach and method of line

We propose a simple and accurate numerical scheme for solving the time fractional telegraph (TFT) equation within Caputo type fractional derivative. A fictitious coordinate v is imposed onto the problem in order to transform the dependent variable u(x, t) into a new variable with an extra dimension. In the new space with the added fictitious dimension, a combination of method of line and group preserving scheme (GPS) is proposed to find the approximate solutions. This method preserves the geometric structure of the problem. Power and accuracy of this method has been illustrated through some examples of TFT equation. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.