Generalized fractional Laguerre orthogonal functions: projection and interpolation estimates

Classical Laguerre spectral approximations are highly effective on the half-line when the target function is smooth in the usual polynomial scale. However, their accuracy deteriorates for nonsmooth functions. Such behavior appears naturally in fractional models, weakly singular integral equations, and semi-infinite-domain approximations with limited regularity near the origin. The main contribution of this work is the construction and analysis of a fractional Laguerre approximation framework tailored to nonsmooth functions on the half-line. We establish projection and interpolation error estimates in nonuniformly weighted Sobolev space. These estimates clarify how the fractional parameter adapts the approximation space to the regularity of nonsmooth functions and improves the resulting convergence behavior. We further introduce a generalized fractional Laguerre family with an additional algebraic parameter, which gives greater flexibility in controlling both the approximation space and the underlying weight. Numerical experiments confirm the theoretical estimates and demonstrate the advantage of the proposed functions over standard Laguerre-type approximations.