The general \(\alpha \)-decomposition problem of fuzzy relations (Q2456464)

The problem of decomposition of a fuzzy relation was posed by A. Di Nola, S. Sessa and W. Pedrycz in 1985 and generalized by \textit{J. Vrba} [Fuzzy Sets Syst. 54, No. 1, 69--79 (1993; Zbl 0793.04008)] and other authors. For example, \textit{Y. Yang} and \textit{X.-P. Wang} [Fuzzy Sets Syst. 151, No. 2, 403--419 (2005; Zbl 1062.03054)] discussed the problem of \(\alpha\)-decomposition of a fuzzy relation. They found two necessary and sufficient conditions for a fuzzy relation to be \(\alpha\)-decomposable. In this paper the authors extend the above-mentioned concept of \(\alpha\)-decomposition and they consider the general \(\alpha\)-decomposition of a fuzzy relation. They point out that every fuzzy relation is always generally \(\alpha\)-decomposable. Firstly, the authors recall some results of \(\alpha\)-decomposable fuzzy relations and they also give another necessary and sufficient condition for a fuzzy relation to be \(\alpha\)-decomposable. Next, the relationship between the \(\alpha\)-decomposition problem and the general \(\alpha\)-decomposition problem of fuzzy relations is investigated. Furthermore, some properties of generally \(\alpha\)-decomposable fuzzy relations are given and then an algorithm to construct a general \(\alpha\)-decomposition of a given fuzzy relation is presented. Moreover, the authors prove that the general content of a given fuzzy relation \(R\) is equal to the chromatic number of a simple graph generated by \(R\), where \(R\) is defined on finite sets. It is shown that calculating the general content of a given fuzzy relation is an NP-complete problem. Finally, an application of the general \(\alpha\)-decomposition problem of fuzzy relations in expert systems is given.