MINI PROJECT ON

AN INTRODUCTION TO FUZZY SET

THEORY
submitted by
Rahul Shukla
Enrollment ID : 2023MAM036

Project submitted to
IIEST, Shibpur

under supervision and guidance of

Prof. Parbati Saha

in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of

M.Sc Applied Mathematics,

Department of Mathematics

Indian Institute of Engineering Science

and technology, Shibpur
Howrah - 711103, West Bengal
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the work contained in this project report enti-
tled “AN INTRODUCTION TO FUZZY SET THEORY” submitted
by Rahul Shukla (Enrollment ID: 2023MAM036) to Indian Institute
of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur towards partial re-
quirement for completion of the 2nd Semester of Masters of Science
in Applied Mathematics has been carried out by him under my su-
pervision. The result of this project work or any part thereof has not
been submitted elsewhere for the award of any degree or diploma.

————————————
Project Supervisor
(Prof. Parbati Saha )
Date:

1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like take this opportunity to express my profound grati-

tude to my supervisor Prof. Parbati Saha for his exemplary guidance
and constant encouragement throughout the course of this project.
I am grateful to IIEST, Shibpur for providing me with the opportu-
nity to complete my dissertation. In this project I have tried to give
a brief overview of the area of AN INTRODUCTION TO FUZZY
SET THEORY . I have benefited greatly from advantages of the
TEX-group software typing system, the use of which has contributed
much to simplify the typing of long mathematical expressions in-
volved in my work.

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude and thanks to my par-

ents without whose constant support and encouragement this project
would never have been completed. I would also like to thank my
friends for their valuable suggestions and support.

Name :- Rahul Shukla

Enrollment ID : 2023MAM036

2
Contents

1 Introduction 5
2 Crisp Set 7
2.1 operations of crisp sets: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.1 Union : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.2 Intersection : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.3 Complement : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.4 Difference : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Fuzzy sets 8
3.1 Definition : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Membership function : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2.1 Triangular membership function : . . . . . . . 10
3.2.2 Gaussian membership function : . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Example 2 : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 Operation of fuzzy sets: 12

4.1 Intersection : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2 Union : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3 Algebraic sum : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.4 Algebraic product : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.5 Bounded sum : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.6 Bounded difference : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.7 Example 3: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5 Properties of fuzzy sets : 14

5.1 Normal: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.2 Support: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3
 5.3 Core: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.4 Boundary: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.5 Convexity: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.6 Cardinality: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6 Properties of the operation with fuzzy sets: 15

7 T-Norm 17
8 S-Norm 17
9 Conclusion : 18
10 References: 19

4
1 Introduction
Natural language employs many vague and imprecise concepts.It
might be argued that vagueness is an obstacle to clarity of mean-
ing and answering by YES or NO is less precise.Translating such
statements into more precise language removes some of their seman-
tic value.This is what happens when natural language is translated
into classic logic.The loss is severe when the issue is related to queries
and knowledge.Fuzzy logic actually contains crisp logic as an extreme.
integrals.

EXAMPLE:Words like young,tall,good or high are fuzzy. There

is no single quantitative value which defines the term young. For
some people,age 25 is young,and for others ,age 35 is young. The
concept young has no clean boundary. Age 35 has some possibility
of being young and usually depends on the context in which it is
being considered.
Fuzzy set theory is an extension of classical set theory where ele-
ments have a degree of membership. In the real world, there exists
much fuzzy knowledge (i.e., vague, uncertain, inexact, etc.). Human
thinking and reasoning (analysis, logic, interpretation) frequently
involve fuzzy information. Humans can give satisfactory answers,
which are probably true. Our systems are unable to answer many
questions because the systems are designed based upon classical set
theory (unreliable and incomplete). We want our system to be able
to cope with unreliable and incomplete information.
Crisp set theory:

• Classes of objects with sharp boundaries.

• A classical set is defined by crisp (exact) boundaries, i.e., there
5
 is no uncertainty about the location of the set boundaries.
• Widely used in digital system design.

Fuzzy set theory:

• Classes of objects with unsharp boundaries.

• A fuzzy set is defined by its ambiguous boundaries, i.e., there
exists uncertainty about the location of the set boundaries.
• Used in fuzzy controllers.

6
2 Crisp Set
A Crisp set is a collection of distinct objects whose elements in a
given universe of discourse are placed into two groups; Members and
nonmembers.

Let U be a universe of discourse, the characteristics function µA(x)

of a crisp set A in U takes its values in [0,1].
(
1 if x ∈ A
µA(x) =
0 otherwise

Example 1 :
U be the real line and crisp set A represents “real numbers greater
than and equal to 5”; (
0 if x < 5
A = {(x, µA(x)) | x ∈ R}, µA(x) =
1 if x ≥ 5

µA(x)
5

2.1 operations of crisp sets:

2.1.1 Union :

The union of two sets A and B is given as

A ∪B = {x | x ∈ A OR x ∈ B}

7
2.1.2 Intersection :

The intersection of two sets A and B is given as

A ∩B = {x | x ∈ A AND x ∈ B}

2.1.3 Complement :

it is denoted by Ā
Ā = { x | x ∈
/ A, x ∈ X}

2.1.4 Difference :

The difference of two sets A and B is as given by

A - B = A \B = {x | x ∈
/ A and x ∈
/ B} = A − (A ∩ B)

3 Fuzzy sets
A fuzzy set A in the universe of discourse U can be defined as a set
of ordered pairs , A = {(x, µA(x)) | x ∈ U }

µA(x)
is the grade of membership of x in A
1
Example : A = {(x, µA(x)) | x ∈ R}, µA(x) = 1+10·(x−5)2

article tikz
µA(x)
5

8
3.1 Definition :

If X is an universe of discourse and x is a particular element of X,

then a fuzzy set A defined on X and can be written as a collection
of ordered pairs,

A = {(x, µA(x)) | x ∈ X}

where A = {(x, µA(x)) | x ∈ X}

is called membership function or degree of membership

If the interval of real numbers [0, 1] is replaced with the discrete

set 0, 1, then the fuzzy set A becomes a classic (crisp) set.

3.2 Membership function :

The universe of discourse of a fuzzy set may exist for both discrete
and continuous spectrum. The roll no. of students in a class is a
discrete universe. weight of persons is a continuous universe.

X is not
R discrete, but is an
R interval of real numbers;
A = µA(x) dx, where indicates the union of the elements in
A.

Continuous universe is sometimes sampled at regular or irregular

intervals for using it as a discrete universe.
Irregular sampling: The membership curve of ‘young’ may
be discretized at age x =18, 22, 24, 28.
Regular Sampling: the membership curve of ‘young’ may be
sampled at age x =18, 20, 22, 24.

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3.2.1 Triangular membership function :
The triangular membership function. also called bell-shaped function
with straight lines, can be defined as:




 0 if x ≤ a
 x−a if a < x ≤ b

b−a
µA(x) = c−x


 c−b if b < x ≤ c

0 if x ≥ c

10
3.2.2 Gaussian membership function :

A Gaussian membership function is defined as:

h i
2
G(u; m, σ) = exp − u−m


2·σ

where m and σ control the mean and width of the membership

function.

3.3 Example 2 :

Let X = {g1, g2, g3, g4, g5} be the reference set of students. Let Ã
be the fuzzy set of ”smart” students, where ”smart” is a fuzzy term.

à = {(g1, 0.4), (g2, 0.5), (g3, 1), (g4, 0.9), (g5, 0.8)}

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Here A indicates that the smartness of g1 is 0.4 and so on.
Example of a discrete fuzzy set:
MF: comfortable house for a 4-person family as a function of the
number of bedrooms: The universe discourse: X = {1, 2, 3, . . . , 10},
à ⊂ X will be
à = {(1, 0.1), (2, 0.5), (3, 0.8), (4, 1), (5, 0.7), (6, 0.2)}

4 Operation of fuzzy sets:

4.1 Intersection :

The intersection between two fuzzy sets A and B is

µA∩B (x) = min[µα (x), µβ (x)] = µA(x) ∩ µB (x); ∀x ∈ U

4.2 Union :

The union between two fuzzy sets

µA∪B (x) = max[µA(x), µB (x)] = µA(x) ∪ µB (x); ∀x ∈ U

The Cartesian product of fuzzy sets A1, A2, ..., An forms a fuzzy
set in the product space U1 × U2 × ... × Un, with a membership
function
µA1×A2×...×An (x1, x2, ..., xn) = min[µA1 (x1), µA2 (x2), ..., µAn (xn)]
where x1 belongs to U1, x2 belongs to U2, and so on up to xn be-
longing to Un.

4.3 Algebraic sum :

The algebraic sum of two fuzzy sets as

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 µA+B (x) = µA(x) + µB (x) − µA(x) · µB (x)

4.4 Algebraic product :

The algebraic product of two fuzzy sets as

µA·B (x) = µA(x) · µB (x)

4.5 Bounded sum :

The bounded sum of two fuzzy sets as

µA⊕B (x) = min{1, µA(x) + µB (x)}

4.6 Bounded difference :

The bounded difference of two fuzzy set as

µA⊖B (x) = max{0, µA(x) − µB (x)}

4.7 Example 3:

A = {(x1, 0.5), (x2, 0.7), (x3, 0)}

B = {(x1, 0.8), (x2, 0.2), (x3, 1)}

Union:

A ∪ B = {(x1, 0.8), (x2, 0.7), (x3, 1)}

Because

µA∪B (x1) = max(µA(x1), µB (x1)) = max(0.5, 0.8) = 0.8

µA∪B (x2) = 0.7 and µA∪B (x3) = 1

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 Intersection:

A ∩ B = {(x1, 0.5), (x2, 0.2), (x3, 0)}

Because

µA∩B (x1) = min(µA(x1), µB (x1)) = min(0.5, 0.8) = 0.5

µA∩B (x2) = 0.2 and µA∩B (x3) = 0

5 Properties of fuzzy sets :

5.1 Normal:

A fuzzy set is called normal if supx µA(x) = 1 where sup is the

supremum of a fuzzy set.
If a fuzzy set is not normal, it can be normalized by dividing its
membership function by the supremum of the set, resulting in the
normalized fuzzy set:
µA (x)
µAnorm = supx µA (x)

5.2 Support:

The support of a set (denoted by supp) is the crisp set of all x ∈ X

for which µA(x) > 0.

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5.3 Core:

The core of a fuzzy set is the crisp set for which µ̂A(x) = 1.

5.4 Boundary:

The boundary of a fuzzy set is the crisp set for which 0 < µA(x) < 1.

5.5 Convexity:

A fuzzy set A ⊂ X is convex if and only if for all x1, x2 ∈ X and for
all λ ∈ [0, 1], the following relation takes place:
µA(λx1 + (1 − λ)x2) ≥ min(µA(x1), µA(x2))

5.6 Cardinality:

Cardinality of a finite fuzzy set A ⊂ X is defined as:

|A| = ni=1 µA(xi)
P

6 Properties of the operation with fuzzy sets:

If A, B, and C are fuzzy sets in the universe of discourse X, the
following properties are true: 1. Distributivity:

A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)
A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
To prove:
max{x, min{y, z}} = min{max{x, y}, max{x, z}} (1)
Without loss of generality, we may assume that y ≤ z.

15
 If x < y, then both sides of (1) are y. If x ≥ y, both sides are
x. The right-hand side is either min{x, x} = x or min{x, z} = x.
Similarly, we can prove the following properties. Hence, proved.
Also,
A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
2. Associativity:
(A ∪ B) ∪ C = A ∪ (B ∪ C)
(A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C)
3. Commutativity:
A∪B =B∪A
A∩B =B∩A
4. Idempotency:
A∪A=A
A∩A=A
5. Identity:
A∪∅=∅∪A=A
A∪X =X ∪A=X
A∩∅=∅∩A=X
6. Transitivity: If A ⊆ B and B ⊆ C, then A ⊆ C.
7. De Morgan Law:
(A ∪ B)′ = A′ ∩ B ′
(A ∩ B)′ = A′ ∪ B ′

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7 T-Norm
Def.: A function T:[0,1] × [0,1] → [0,1] that satisfies the above 4
characteristics is called a T-norm.
the intersection of the fuzzy sets, characterized by a T-norm op-
erator: µA∩B (x) = T[µA(x), µB ]

for any membership values a, b, c and d, the T-norm operator :

1. T(0,0)=0, T(a,1)=T(1,a)=a
2. T(a, b) ≤ T (c, d) if a ≤ c and b ≤ d
3. T(a,b)=T(b,a)
4. T(a, T(b,c))=T(T(a,b),c)

8 S-Norm
Def.: A function S:[0,1] × [0,1] → [0,1] that satisfies the above 4
characteristics is called a S-norm.
The union of the fuzzy sets, characterized by a S-norm (T-co-
norm) operator: µA∪B (x) = S[µA(x), µB (x)]
1. S(1,1) = 1, S(a, 0) = S(0, a) = a
2. S(a, b) ≤ S(c, d) if a ≤ c and b ≤ d
3. S(a, b) = S(b, a)
4. S(a, S(b, c)) = S(S(a, b), c)

17
9 Conclusion :
Fuzzy set theory introduces a paradigm shift by allowing elements
to belong to sets with degrees of membership, accommodating un-
certainty and vagueness. This extension of classical set theory en-
ables more nuanced modeling of real-world phenomena. Through
fuzzy logic, it offers a powerful tool for decision-making in complex
systems where crisp boundaries are inadequate. With applications
ranging from control systems to pattern recognition, fuzzy set theory
provides a versatile framework for handling imprecision effectively.
Its adoption continues to grow across various fields, underscoring its
relevance and importance in modern scientific and engineering con-
texts.

18
10 References:
[1. ] Zadeh, L.A., Fuzzy Sets, Information and Control, 8(1965) 338-
353.
[2. ] Steve Carlson, Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Topologies, Early ide-
als and Obstacles, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Part I
(May 10).
[3. ] C.L. Chang, Fuzzy topological spaces, Journal of Mathematical
Analysis and Application, 24, 182-190 (1968).
[4. ] David H. Foster, Fuzzy Topological Groups, Journal of Math-
ematical Analysis and Application, Academic Press, New York
and London, Vol. 67, No. 2, February 1979.
[5. ] George J. Klir, Yuan Bo, Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic, Theory
and Applications, Prentice-Hall Inc., N.J., U.S.A., 1995.
[6. ] Lowen, Fuzzy Set Theory, Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science, University of Antwerp, Belgium, Basic Con-
cepts, Techniques and Bibliography, Kluwer Academic Publish-
ers, Dordrecht/Boston/London.

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