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Fuzzy soft set theory and its applications

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Iranian Journal of Fuzzy Systems Vol. 8, No. 3, (2011) pp. 137-147 137

FUZZY SOFT SET THEORY AND ITS APPLICATIONS

N. C
. AĞMAN, S. ENGINOĞLU AND F. C
. ITAK

Abstract. In this work, we define a fuzzy soft set theory and its related
properties. We then define fuzzy soft aggregation operator that allows con-
structing more efficient decision making method. Finally, we give an example
which shows that the method can be successfully applied to many problems
that contain uncertainties.

1. Introduction
Molodtsov [23] introduced the concept of soft sets that can be seen as a new
mathematical theory for dealing with uncertainty. Molodtsov applied this theory
to several directions [23, 24, 25], and then formulated the notions of soft number,
soft derivative, soft integral, etc. in [26]. The soft set theory has been applied to
many different fields with great success. Maji et al. [20] worked on theoretical study
of soft sets in detail, and [19] presented an application of soft set in the decision
making problem using the reduction of rough sets [29]. Chen et al. [6] proposed
parametrization reduction of soft sets, and then Kong et al. [16] presented the
normal parametrization reduction of soft sets.
Recently, many scholars study the properties and applications on the soft set
theory. Xiao et al. [34] studied synthetically evaluating method for business com-
petitive capacity and also Xiao et al. [35] gave a recognition for soft information
based on the theory of soft sets. Pei and Miao [30] showed that the soft sets are a
class of special information systems. Mushrif et al. [27] presented a new algorithm
based on the notions of soft set theory for classification of the natural textures.
Kovkov et al. [17] considered the optimization problems in the framework of the
theory of soft sets which is directed to formalization of the concept of approximate
object description. Zou and Xiao [42] presented data analysis approaches of soft sets
under incomplete information. Majumdar and Samanta [21] studied the similarity
measure of soft sets. Ali et al. [1] introduced the analysis of several operations on
soft sets.
The algebraic structure of soft set theory dealing with uncertainties has also
been studied in more detail. Aktas. and C.ağman [2] introduced a definition of soft
groups, and derived their basic properties. Park et al. [28] worked on the notion
of soft WS-algebras, soft subalgebras and soft deductive systems. Jun [9] dealt
with the algebraic structure of BCK/BCI-algebras by applying soft set theory. Jun

Received: January 2010; Accepted: July 2010

Key words and phrases: Fuzzy sets, Soft sets, Fuzzy soft sets, Soft aggregation, Fuzzy soft
aggregation, Aggregate fuzzy set.
138 N. C
. ağman, S. Enginoğlu and F. Cıtak

and Park [10] presented the notion of soft ideals, idealistic soft and idealistic soft
BCK/BCI-algebras. Jun et al. [11] applied soft set theory to commutative ideals in
BCK-algebras. Jun and Park [12] make application of soft sets in Hilbert Algebras.
Jun et al. [13, 14] presented Pseudo d-algebras and applied soft set theory to ideals
in d-algebras. Sun et al. [33] gave the definition of soft modules. In [8], Feng et al.
defined the notion of a soft semiring and its algebraic properties. Zou and Chen [40]
worked on soft set theory and parameters reduction based on relational algebra.
Maji et al. [18] presented the concept of the fuzzy soft sets (𝑓 𝑠-sets) by embed-
ding the ideas of fuzzy sets [39]. By using this definition of 𝑓 𝑠-sets many interesting
applications of soft set theory have been expanded by some researchers. Roy and
Maji [31] gave some applications of 𝑓 𝑠-sets. Som [32] defined soft relation and fuzzy
soft relation on the theory of soft sets. Mukherjee and Chakraborty [22] worked
on intuitionistic fuzzy soft relations. Aktas. and C.ağman [2] compared soft sets
with the related concepts of fuzzy sets and rough sets. Yang et al. [37] defined
the operations on fuzzy soft sets which are based on three fuzzy logic operators:
negation, triangular norm and triangular conorm. Zou and Xiao [42] introduced the
soft set and fuzzy soft set into the incomplete environment. Xiao et al. [36] used
forecasting accuracy as the criterion of fuzzy membership function, and purposed a
combined forecasting approached based on 𝑓 𝑠-sets. Yang et al. [38] presented the
combination of interval-valued fuzzy set and soft set. Kong et al. [15] defined the
normal parameter reduction in the 𝑓 𝑠-sets, and showed that Roy and Maji’s [31]
algorithm is not convenient in general cases.
The operations of the 𝑓 𝑠-sets and soft sets defined by Maji et al. [18, 20] are used
in all the works mentioned above. But, Chen et al. [6], Pei and Miao [30], Kong
et al. [15] and Ali et al. [1] pointed out that these works have some weak points.
Therefore, to develop the theory, C . ağman and Enginoğlu [3] redefined operations of
the soft sets which are more functional for improving several new results. By using
these new operations, C . ağman and Enginoğlu [4] presented a soft matrix theory.
C.ağman et al. [5] defined a fuzzy parameterized soft set theory and its decision
making method.
In this work, we redefine the 𝑓 𝑠-sets and their operations, and then define fuzzy
soft aggregation operator which allows constructing more efficient decision pro-
cesses. We finally give an example which shows that the method can be successfully
applied to many problems containing uncertainties.

2. Preliminaries
In this section, we present the basic definitions of soft set theory [23] and fuzzy
set theory [39] that are useful for subsequent discussions. These definitions and
more detailed explanations related to the soft sets and fuzzy sets can be found in
[3, 20, 23] and [7, 41], respectively.
Throughout this work, 𝑈 refers to an initial universe, 𝐸 is a set of parameters,
𝑃 (𝑈 ) is the power set of 𝑈 , and 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐸.
Definition 2.1. A soft set 𝐹𝐴 over 𝑈 is a set defined by a function 𝑓𝐴 representing
a mapping
 Fuzzy Soft Set Theory and Its Applications 139

𝑓𝐴 : 𝐸 → 𝑃 (𝑈 ) such that 𝑓𝐴 (𝑥) = ∅ if 𝑥 ∈

/𝐴

Here, 𝑓𝐴 is called approximate function of the soft set 𝐹𝐴 , and the value 𝑓𝐴 (𝑥) is
a set called 𝑥-element of the soft set for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸. It is worth noting that the sets
𝑓𝐴 (𝑥) may be arbitrary, empty, or have nonempty intersection. Thus a soft set over
𝑈 can be represented by the set of ordered pairs

𝐹𝐴 = {(𝑥, 𝑓𝐴 (𝑥)) : 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸, 𝑓𝐴 (𝑥) ∈ 𝑃 (𝑈 )}.

Note that the set of all soft sets over 𝑈 will be denoted by 𝑆(𝑈 ).
Example 2.2. Let 𝑈 = {𝑢𝑙 , 𝑢2 , 𝑢3 , 𝑢4 , 𝑢5 } be a universal set and 𝐸 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 }
be a set of parameters. If 𝐴 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥4 } ⊆ 𝐸, 𝑓𝐴 (𝑥1 ) = {𝑢2 , 𝑢4 }, 𝑓𝐴 (𝑥2 ) = 𝑈
and 𝑓𝐴 (𝑥4 ) = {𝑢1 , 𝑢3 , 𝑢5 }, then the soft set 𝐹𝐴 is written by
𝐹𝐴 = {(𝑥1 , {𝑢2 , 𝑢4 }), (𝑥2 , 𝑈 ), (𝑥4 , {𝑢1 , 𝑢3 , 𝑢5 })}.
Definition 2.3. Let 𝑈 be a universe. A fuzzy set 𝑋 over 𝑈 is a set defined by a
function 𝜇𝑋 representing a mapping
𝜇𝑋 : 𝑈 → [0, 1]
𝜇𝑋 is called the membership function of 𝑋, and the value 𝜇𝑋 (𝑢) is called the grade
of membership of 𝑢 ∈ 𝑈 . The value represents the degree of u belonging to the
fuzzy set 𝑋. Thus, a fuzzy set 𝑋 over 𝑈 can be represented as follows:
𝑋 = {(𝜇𝑋 (𝑢)/𝑢) : 𝑢 ∈ 𝑈, 𝜇𝑋 (𝑥) ∈ [0, 1]}.
Note that the set of all the fuzzy sets over 𝑈 will be denoted by 𝐹 (𝑈 ) .

3. Fuzzy Soft Sets

In this section, we have defined 𝑓 𝑠-sets and their operations. In the soft sets,
given in Section 2, the parameter sets and the approximate functions are crisp. But
in the 𝑓 𝑠-sets, while the parameters sets are crisp, the approximate functions are
fuzzy subsets of 𝑈 . From now on, we will use Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 , Γ𝐶 ,..., etc. for 𝑓 𝑠-sets and
𝛾𝐴 , 𝛾𝐵 , 𝛾𝐶 ,..., etc. for their fuzzy approximate functions, respectively.
Definition 3.1. An fs-set Γ𝐴 over 𝑈 is a set defined by a function 𝛾𝐴 representing
a mapping
𝛾𝐴 : 𝐸 → 𝐹 (𝑈 ) such that 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) = ∅ if 𝑥 ∈
/ 𝐴.

Here, 𝛾𝐴 is called fuzzy approximate function of the 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐴 , and the value 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥)
is a set called 𝑥-element of the fs-set for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸. Thus, an 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐴 over 𝑈 can
be represented by the set of ordered pairs
Γ𝐴 = {(𝑥, 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥)) : 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸, 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∈ 𝐹 (𝑈 )}.
Note that the set of all 𝑓 𝑠-sets over 𝑈 will be denoted by 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ).
140 N. C
. ağman, S. Enginoğlu and F. Cıtak

Example 3.2. Let 𝑈 = {𝑢𝑙 , 𝑢2 , 𝑢3 , 𝑢4 , 𝑢5 } be a universal set and 𝐸 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 }

be a set of parameters. If 𝐴 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥4 } ⊆ 𝐸, 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥1 ) = {0.9/𝑢2 , 0.5/𝑢4 },
𝛾𝐴 (𝑥2 ) = 𝑈 , and 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥4 ) = {0.2/𝑢1 , 0.4/𝑢3 , 0.8/𝑢5 }, then the soft set 𝐹𝐴 is written
by
𝐹𝐴 = {(𝑥1 , {0.9/𝑢2 , 0.5/𝑢4 }), (𝑥2 , 𝑈 ), (𝑥4 , {0.2/𝑢1 , 0.4/𝑢3 , 0.8/𝑢5 })}.
Definition 3.3. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). If 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) = ∅ for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸, then Γ𝐴 is called an
empty 𝑓 𝑠-set, denoted by ΓΦ .
Definition 3.4. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). If 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) = 𝑈 for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴, then Γ𝐴 is called
𝐴-universal 𝑓 𝑠-set, denoted by Γ𝐴˜ .
If 𝐴 = 𝐸, then the 𝐴-universal 𝑓 𝑠-set is called universal 𝑓 𝑠-set, denoted by Γ𝐸˜ .
Example 3.5. Assume that 𝑈 = {𝑢1 , 𝑢2 , 𝑢3 , 𝑢4 , 𝑢5 } is a universal set and 𝐸 =
{𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 } is a set of all parameters.
If 𝐴 = {𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 }, 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥2 ) = {0.5/𝑢2 , 0.9/𝑢4 }, 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥3 ) = ∅ and 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥4 ) = 𝑈 ,
then the 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐴 is written by Γ𝐴 = {(𝑥2 , {0.5/𝑢2 , 0.9/𝑢4 }), (𝑥4 , 𝑈 )}.
If 𝐵 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥3 }, and 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥1 ) = ∅, 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥3 ) = ∅, then the 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐵 is an empty
𝑓 𝑠-set, i.e., Γ𝐵 = ΓΦ .
If 𝐶 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 }, 𝛾𝐶 (𝑥1 ) = 𝑈 , and 𝛾𝐶 (𝑥2 ) = 𝑈 , then the 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐶 is a 𝐶-
universal 𝑓 𝑠-set, i.e., Γ𝐶 = Γ𝐶˜ .
If 𝐷 = 𝐸, and 𝛾𝐷 (𝑥𝑖 ) = 𝑈 for all 𝑥𝑖 ∈ 𝐸, where 𝑖 = 1, 2, 3, 4, then the 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐷
is a universal 𝑓 𝑠-set, i.e., Γ𝐷 = Γ𝐸˜ .

Definition 3.6. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then, Γ𝐴 is an 𝑓 𝑠-subset of Γ𝐵 , denoted

by Γ𝐴 ⊆Γ
˜ 𝐵 , if 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ⊆ 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥) for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸.

Remark 3.7. Γ𝐴 ⊆Γ ˜ 𝐵 does not imply that every element of Γ𝐴 is an element of

Γ𝐵 as in the definition of the classical subset.
For example, assume that 𝑈 = {𝑢1 , 𝑢2 , 𝑢3 , 𝑢4 } is a universal set of objects and
𝐸 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 } is a set of all the parameters. If 𝐴 = {𝑥1 }, 𝐵 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥3 }, Γ𝐴 =
{(𝑥1 , {0.2/𝑢2 })} and Γ𝐵 = {(𝑥1 , {0.9/𝑢2 , 0.3/𝑢3 , 0.5/𝑢4 }),
(𝑥3 , {0.2/𝑢1 , 0.7/𝑢5 })}, then for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸, 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ⊆ 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥) is valid. Hence, Γ𝐴 ⊆Γ
˜ 𝐵.
It is clear that (𝑥1 , {0.2/𝑢2 }) ∈ Γ𝐴 , but (𝑥1 , {0.2/𝑢2 }) ∈
/ Γ𝐵 .
Proposition 3.8. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then,
(1) Γ𝐴 ⊆Γ
˜ ˜
𝐸
(2) ΓΦ ⊆Γ𝐴
˜
(3) Γ𝐴 ⊆Γ
˜ 𝐴
(4) Γ𝐴 ⊆Γ
˜ 𝐵 and Γ𝐵 ⊆Γ
˜ 𝐶 ⇒ Γ𝐴 ⊆Γ˜ 𝐶
Proof. They can be proved easily by using the fuzzy approximate function of the
𝑓 𝑠-sets. □
Definition 3.9. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then, Γ𝐴 and Γ𝐵 are 𝑓 𝑠-equal, written as
Γ𝐴 = Γ𝐵 , if and only if 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) = 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥) for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸.
Proposition 3.10. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 , Γ𝐶 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then,
 Fuzzy Soft Set Theory and Its Applications 141

(1) Γ𝐴 = Γ𝐵 and Γ𝐵 = Γ𝐶 ⇒ Γ𝐴 = Γ𝐶
(2) Γ𝐴 ⊆Γ
˜ 𝐵 and Γ𝐵 ⊆Γ
˜ 𝐴 ⇔ Γ𝐴 = Γ𝐵

Proof. The proofs are trivial. □

Definition 3.11. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then, the complement Γ𝑐𝐴
˜
of Γ𝐴 is an 𝑓 𝑠-set
such that
𝑐
𝛾𝐴𝑐˜ (𝑥) = 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥), for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸,
𝑐
where 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) is complement of the set 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥).
Proposition 3.12. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then,
(1) (Γ𝑐𝐴
˜ 𝑐˜
) = Γ𝐴
𝑐˜
(2) ΓΦ = Γ𝐸˜
Proof. By using the fuzzy approximate functions of the 𝑓 𝑠-sets, the proofs are
straightforward. □
Definition 3.13. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then, the union of Γ𝐴 and Γ𝐵 , denoted
by Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ Γ𝐵 , is defined by its fuzzy approximate function
𝛾𝐴∪˜ 𝐵 (𝑥) = 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∪ 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥) for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸.
Proposition 3.14. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 , Γ𝐶 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then,
(1) Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ Γ𝐴 = Γ𝐴
(2) Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ ΓΦ = Γ𝐴
(3) Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ Γ𝐸˜ = Γ𝐸˜
(4) Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ Γ𝐵 = Γ𝐵 ∪ ˜ Γ𝐴
(5) (Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ Γ𝐵 )∪
˜ Γ𝐶 = Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ (Γ𝐵 ∪
˜ Γ𝐶 )
Proof. The proofs can be easily obtained from Definition 3.13. □
Definition 3.15. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then, the intersection of Γ𝐴 and Γ𝐵 ,
denoted by Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ Γ𝐵 , is defined by its fuzzy approximate function
𝛾𝐴∩˜ 𝐵 (𝑥) = 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∩ 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥) for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸.
Proposition 3.16. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 , Γ𝐶 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then,
(1) Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ Γ𝐴 = Γ𝐴
(2) Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ ΓΦ = ΓΦ
(3) Γ𝐴 ∩Γ𝐸˜ = Γ𝐴
˜
(4) Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ Γ𝐵 = Γ𝐵 ∩
˜ Γ𝐴
(5) (Γ𝐴 ∩Γ𝐵 )∩Γ𝐶 = Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ ˜ ˜ (Γ𝐵 ∩˜ Γ𝐶 )
Proof. The proofs can be easily obtained from Definition 3.15. □
˜ Γ𝑐𝐴
Remark 3.17. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). If Γ𝐴 ∕= ΓΦ and Γ𝐴 ∕= Γ𝐸˜ , then Γ𝐴 ∪ ˜
∕= Γ𝐸˜
𝑐
˜
and Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ Γ𝐴 ∕= ΓΦ .
Proposition 3.18. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then, De Morgan’s laws are valid as
follows:
˜ Γ𝐵 )𝑐˜ = Γ𝑐𝐴
(1) (Γ𝐴 ∪ ˜ ˜ 𝑐˜
∩Γ𝐵
142 N. C
. ağman, S. Enginoğlu and F. Cıtak

˜ Γ𝐵 )𝑐˜ = Γ𝑐𝐴
(2) (Γ𝐴 ∩ ˜ ˜ 𝑐˜
∪Γ𝐵 .
Proof. The proofs can be obtained by using the respective approximate functions.
For all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸,
𝑐
(1) : 𝛾(𝐴∪˜ 𝐵)𝑐˜ (𝑥) = 𝛾𝐴 ˜ 𝐵 (𝑥)
∪
= (𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∪ 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥))𝑐
= (𝛾𝐴 (𝑥))𝑐 ∩ (𝛾𝐵 (𝑥))𝑐
𝑐 𝑐 □
= 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∩ 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥)
= 𝛾𝐴𝑐˜ (𝑥) ∩ 𝛾𝐵 𝑐˜ (𝑥)
= 𝛾𝐴𝑐˜∩˜ 𝐵 𝑐˜ (𝑥)
The proof of (2) is similar.
Proposition 3.19. Let Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐵 , Γ𝐶 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then,
(1) Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ (Γ𝐵 ∩
˜ Γ𝐶 ) = (Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ Γ𝐵 ) ∩
˜ (Γ𝐴 ∪
˜ Γ𝐶 )
(2) Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ (Γ𝐵 ∪
˜ Γ𝐶 ) = (Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ Γ𝐵 ) ∪
˜ (Γ𝐴 ∩
˜ Γ𝐶 )
Proof. For all 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸,

(1) : 𝛾𝐴∪˜ (𝐵 ∩˜ 𝐶) (𝑥) = 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∪ 𝛾𝐵 ∩˜ 𝐶 (𝑥)

= 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∪ (𝛾𝐵 (𝑥) ∩ 𝛾𝐶 (𝑥))
= (𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∪ 𝛾𝐵 (𝑥)) ∩ (𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) ∪ 𝛾𝐶 (𝑥)) . □
= 𝛾𝐴∪˜ 𝐵 (𝑥) ∩ 𝛾𝐴∪˜ 𝐶 (𝑥)
= 𝛾(𝐴∪˜ 𝐵)∩˜ (𝐴∪˜ 𝐶) (𝑥).
Likewise, the proof of (2) can be made in a similar way.
We note that the binary 𝑓 𝑠-sets operations, ∩ ˜ and ∪˜ used in the subscripts
of fuzzy approximate functions, are not classical set operations. They indicate
that 𝛾𝐴∩𝐵
˜ and 𝛾𝐴∪𝐵
˜ ˜ Γ𝐵 and Γ𝐴 ∪
are the fuzzy approximate function of Γ𝐴 ∩ ˜ Γ𝐵 ,
respectively.

4. 𝑓 𝑠-aggregation
In this section, we define an 𝑓 𝑠-aggregation operator that produces an aggregate
fuzzy set from an 𝑓 𝑠-set and its cardinal set. The approximate functions of an
𝑓 𝑠-set are fuzzy. An 𝑓 𝑠-aggregation operator on the fuzzy sets is an operation by
which several approximate functions of an 𝑓 𝑠-set are combined to produce a single
fuzzy set which is the aggregate fuzzy set of the 𝑓 𝑠-set. Once an aggregate fuzzy set
has been arrived at, it may be necessary to choose the best single crisp alternative
from this set.
Definition 4.1. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Assume that 𝑈 = {𝑢1 , 𝑢2 , ..., 𝑢𝑚 }, 𝐸 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , ..., 𝑥𝑛 }
and 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐸, then the Γ𝐴 can be presented by the following table,
Γ𝐴 𝑥1 𝑥2 ... 𝑥𝑛
𝑢1 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥1 ) (𝑢1 ) 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥2 ) (𝑢1 ) ... 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥𝑛 ) (𝑢1 )
𝑢2 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥1 ) (𝑢2 ) 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥2 ) (𝑢2 ) ... 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥𝑛 ) (𝑢2 )
.. .. .. .. ..
. . . . .
𝑢𝑚 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥1 ) (𝑢𝑚 ) 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥2 ) (𝑢𝑚 ) ... 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥𝑛 ) (𝑢𝑚 )
 Fuzzy Soft Set Theory and Its Applications 143

where 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥) is the membership function of 𝛾𝐴 .

If 𝑎𝑖𝑗 = 𝜇𝛾𝐴(𝑥𝑗 ) (𝑢𝑖 ), for 𝑖 = 1, 2, ..., 𝑚 and 𝑗 = 1, 2, ..., 𝑛, then the 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐴 is
uniquely characterized by a matrix,
⎡ ⎤
𝑎11 𝑎12 ⋅⋅⋅ 𝑎1𝑛
⎢ 𝑎21 𝑎22 ⋅⋅⋅ 𝑎2𝑛 ⎥
[𝑎𝑖𝑗 ]𝑚×𝑛 = ⎢ .
⎢ ⎥
.. .. ..
⎣ ..
⎥
. . . ⎦
𝑎𝑚1 𝑎𝑚2 ⋅⋅⋅ 𝑎𝑚𝑛

is called an 𝑚 × 𝑛 𝑓 𝑠-matrix of the 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐴 over 𝑈 .

Definition 4.2. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then, the cardinal set of Γ𝐴 , denoted by 𝑐Γ𝐴
and defined by
𝑐Γ𝐴 = {𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 (𝑥)/𝑥 : 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸},
is a fuzzy set over 𝐸. The membership function 𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 of 𝑐Γ𝐴 is defined by
∣𝛾𝐴 (𝑥)∣
𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 : 𝐸 → [0, 1], 𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 (𝑥) =
∣𝑈 ∣
where ∣𝑈 ∣ is the cardinality of universe 𝑈 , and ∣𝛾𝐴 (𝑥)∣ is the scalar cardinality of
fuzzy set 𝛾𝐴 (𝑥).
Note that the set of all cardinal sets of the 𝑓 𝑠-sets over 𝑈 will be denoted by
𝑐𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). It is clear that 𝑐𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ) ⊆ 𝐹 (𝐸).
Definition 4.3. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ) and 𝑐Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝑐𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Assume that 𝐸 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , ..., 𝑥𝑛 }
and 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐸, then 𝑐Γ𝐴 can be presented by the following table
𝐸 𝑥1 𝑥2 ... 𝑥𝑛
𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 (𝑥1 ) 𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 (𝑥2 ) ... 𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 (𝑥𝑛 )

If 𝑎1𝑗 = 𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 (𝑥𝑗 ) for 𝑗 = 1, 2, ..., 𝑛, then the cardinal set 𝑐Γ𝐴 is uniquely charac-
terized by a matrix,
[𝑎1𝑗 ]1×𝑛 = [𝑎11 𝑎12 ...𝑎1𝑛 ]
which is called the cardinal matrix of the cardinal set 𝑐Γ𝐴 over 𝐸.
Definition 4.4. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ) and 𝑐Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝑐𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ). Then 𝑓 𝑠-aggregation
operator, denoted by 𝐹 𝑆𝑎𝑔𝑔 , is defined by
𝐹 𝑆𝑎𝑔𝑔 : 𝑐𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ) × 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ) → 𝐹 (𝑈 ), 𝐹 𝑆𝑎𝑔𝑔 (𝑐Γ𝐴 , Γ𝐴 ) = Γ∗𝐴
where
Γ∗𝐴 = {𝜇Γ∗𝐴 (𝑢)/𝑢 : 𝑢 ∈ 𝑈 }
is a fuzzy set over 𝑈 . Γ∗𝐴 is called the aggregate fuzzy set of the 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐴 . The
membership function 𝜇Γ∗𝐴 of Γ∗𝐴 is defined as follows:
1 ∑
𝜇Γ∗𝐴 : 𝑈 → [0, 1], 𝜇Γ∗𝐴 (𝑢) = 𝜇𝑐Γ𝐴 (𝑥)𝜇𝛾𝐴 (𝑥) (𝑢),
∣𝐸∣
𝑥∈𝐸
144 N. C
. ağman, S. Enginoğlu and F. Cıtak

where ∣𝐸∣ is the cardinality of 𝐸.

Definition 4.5. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ) and Γ∗𝐴 be its aggregate fuzzy set. Assume that
𝑈 = {𝑢1 , 𝑢2 , ..., 𝑢𝑚 }, then the Γ∗𝐴 can be presented by the following table

Γ𝐴 𝜇Γ∗𝐴
𝑢1 𝜇Γ∗𝐴 (𝑢1 )
𝑢2 𝜇Γ∗𝐴 (𝑢2 )
.. ..
. .
𝑢𝑚 𝜇Γ∗𝐴 (𝑢𝑚 )

If 𝑎𝑖1 = 𝜇Γ∗𝐴 (𝑢𝑖 ) for 𝑖 = 1, 2, ..., 𝑚, then Γ∗𝐴 is uniquely characterized by the matrix,
⎡ ⎤
𝑎11
⎢ 𝑎21 ⎥
[𝑎𝑖1 ]𝑚×1 = ⎢ . ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎣ .. ⎦
𝑎𝑚1

which is called the aggregate matrix of Γ∗𝐴 over 𝑈 .

Theorem 4.6. Let Γ𝐴 ∈ 𝐹 𝑆(𝑈 ) and 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐸. If 𝑀Γ𝐴 , 𝑀𝑐Γ𝐴 and 𝑀Γ∗𝐴 are repre-
sentation matrices of Γ𝐴 , 𝑐Γ𝐴 and Γ∗𝐴 , respectively, then
𝑇
∣𝐸∣ × 𝑀Γ∗𝐴 = 𝑀Γ𝐴 × 𝑀𝑐Γ𝐴

𝑇
where 𝑀𝑐Γ𝐴
is the transposition of 𝑀𝑐Γ𝐴 and ∣𝐸∣ is the cardinality of 𝐸.

Proof. It is sufficient to consider [𝑎𝑖1 ]𝑚×1 = [𝑎𝑖𝑗 ]𝑚×𝑛 × [𝑎1𝑗 ]𝑇1×𝑛 . □

Theorem 4.6 is applicable to computing the aggregate fuzzy set of an 𝑓 𝑠-set.

5. Application
Once an aggregate fuzzy set has been arrived at, it may be necessary to choose the
best alternative from this set. Therefore, we can make a decision by the following
algorithm.
Step 1: Construct an 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐴 over 𝑈 ,
Step 2: Find the cardinal set 𝑐Γ𝐴 of Γ𝐴 ,
Step 3: Find the aggregate fuzzy set Γ∗𝐴 of Γ𝐴 ,
Step 4: Find the best alternative from this set that has the largest member-
ship grade by max 𝜇Γ∗𝐴 (𝑢).
Example 5.1. Suppose a company wants to fill a position. There are eight
candidates who form the set of alternatives, 𝑈 = {𝑢1 , 𝑢2 , 𝑢3 , 𝑢4 , 𝑢5 , 𝑢6 , 𝑢7 , 𝑢8 }.
The hiring committee consider a set of parameters, 𝐸 = {𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 , 𝑥5 }. For
𝑖 = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the parameters 𝑥𝑖 stand for ”experience”, ”computer knowledge”,
”young age”, ”good speaking” and ”friendly”, respectively.
 Fuzzy Soft Set Theory and Its Applications 145

After a serious discussion each candidate is evaluated from the goals and con-
straint point of view of according to a chosen subset 𝐴 = {𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 } of 𝐸. Finally,
the committee applies the following steps:
Step 1: The committee constructs an 𝑓 𝑠-set Γ𝐴 over 𝑈 ,
{
Γ𝐴 = (𝑥2 , {0.3/𝑢2 , 0.5/𝑢3 , 0.1/𝑢4 , 0.8/𝑢5 , 0.7/𝑢7 }),
(𝑥3 , {0.4/𝑢1 , 0.4/𝑢2 , 0.9/𝑢3 , 0.3/𝑢4 }), }
(𝑥4 , {0.2/𝑢1 , 0.5/𝑢2 , 0.1/𝑢5 , 0.7/𝑢7 , 1/𝑢8 })

Step 2: The cardinal is computed,

𝑐Γ𝐴 = {0.3/𝑥2 , 0.25/𝑥3 , 0.2/𝑥4 }
Step 3: The aggregate fuzzy set is found by using Theorem 4.6,
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
0 0 0.4 0.2 0 0.028
⎢ 0 0.3 0.4 0.5 0 ⎥ ⎡ ⎤ ⎢ 0.058 ⎥
⎢
⎢ 0 0.5 0.9 0 0 ⎥
⎥ 0 ⎢ ⎥
⎥ ⎢ 0.3 ⎥ ⎢ 0.075 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢
1⎢ 0 0.1 0.3 0 0 ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ 0.021 ⎥
𝑀Γ∗𝐴 = ⎢ 0.25 ⎥ =⎢ ⎥
5 ⎢ 0 0.8 0 0.1 0 ⎥ ⎣
⎢ ⎥ ⎢
⎦ ⎢ 0.052 ⎥
⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 0 0 0.2
0 0 0 ⎥ ⎥
⎢ 0 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢
⎣ 0 0.7 0 0.7 0 ⎦ 0 ⎣ 0.070 ⎦
0 0 0 1 0 0.040
that means,
Γ∗𝐴 = {0.028/𝑢1 , 0.058/𝑢2 , 0.075/𝑢3 , 0.021/𝑢4 , 0.052/𝑢5 , 0/𝑢6 , 0.070/𝑢7 ,
0.040/𝑢8 }

Step 4: Finally, the largest membership grade is chosen by

max 𝜇Γ∗𝐴 (𝑢) = 0.075
which means that the candidate 𝑢3 has the largest membership grade, hence
he may be selected for the job.

6. Conclusion
A soft set is a mapping from parameter to the crisp subset of universe. However,
the situation may be more complicated in real world because of the fuzzy characters
of the parameters. In 𝑓 𝑠-sets, the soft set theory is extended to a fuzzy one, the
fuzzy membership is used to describe parameter approximate elements of fuzzy
soft set. To develop the theory, in this work, we first defined 𝑓 𝑠-sets and their
operations. We then presented the decision making method for the 𝑓 𝑠-set theory.
Finally, we provided an example demonstrating the successfully application of this
method. It may be applied to many fields with problems that contain uncertainty,
and it would be beneficial to extend the proposed method to subsequent studies.
146 N. C
. ağman, S. Enginoğlu and F. Cıtak

However, the approach should be more comprehensive in the future to solve the
related problems.

Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful for financial support from the
Research Fund of Gaziosmanpasa University under grant no: 2009/72.

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Naim Cagman∗ , Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Gazios-

manpasa University, 60150 Tokat, Turkey
E-mail address: [email protected]

Serdar Enginoglu, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Gazios-

manpasa University, 60150 Tokat, Turkey
E-mail address: [email protected]

Filiz Citak, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Gaziosman-

pasa University, 60150 Tokat, Turkey
E-mail address: [email protected]

*Corresponding author

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