Abstract: | In this paper, we derive a fourth order approximation for the generalized fractional derivative that is characterized by a scale function z(t) and a weight function w(t) . Combining the new approximation with compact finite difference method, we develop a numerical scheme for a generalized fractional diffusion problem. The stability and convergence of the numerical scheme are proved by the energy method, and it is shown that the temporal and spatial convergence orders are both 4. Several numerical experiments are provided to illustrate the efficiency of our scheme. |