On Self-Similar Bernstein Functions and Corresponding Generalized Fractional Derivatives

We use the theory of Bernstein functions to analyze power law tail behavior with log-periodic perturbations which corresponds to self-similarity of the Bernstein functions. Such tail behavior appears in the context of semistable Lévy processes. The Bernstein approach enables us to solve some open questions concerning semi-fractional derivatives recently introduced in Kern et al. (Fract Calc Appl Anal 22(2):326–357, 2019) by means of the generators of certain semistable Lévy processes. In particular, it is shown that semi-fractional derivatives can be seen as generalized fractional derivatives in the sense of Kochubei (Integr Equ Oper Theory 71:583–600, 2011) and generalized fractional derivatives can be constructed by means of arbitrary Bernstein functions vanishing at the origin.