Deriving subdiffusion equations from general Renewal--Jump dynamics

Abstract

Subdiffusion occurs when long trapping or residence times of particles slow down spatial transport and produce a mean squared displacement proportional to $t^\alpha$, with~$0<\alpha<1$. We develop a general renewal--jump framework that combines the internal trapping dynamics with the reinjection of particles with spatial jumps. The internal trapping dynamics enters the macroscopic limit through the small-frequency behavior of a resolvent which limiting solution is not integrable. A growth mass condition determines the parameter~$\alpha$. Then the spatial density converges on the time scale~$\eps^{-2/\alpha}$ to a time-fractional diffusion equation. This criterion provides a common derivation for models with very different internal mechanisms. We first establish the abstract limit by Laplace transform in a general setting. We then show that the classical age-structured renewal model is a direct instance of the framework and apply the same criterion to an internal pathway model governed by a degenerate elliptic operator. Both yield the subdiffusion equation and its correct initial condition. The approach clarifies which microscopic property produces subdiffusion, how the anomalous exponent determines the macroscopic scaling, and why the initial distribution enters the limit through the initial spatial mass under the stated preparation assumptions.