Fuzzy group theory. (Q2487155)

When the concept of fuzzy set was introduced by \textit{L. A. Zadeh} in his seminal paper ``Fuzzy Sets'' [Inf. Control 8, 338-353 (1965; Zbl 0139.24606)], it attracted the attention of some influential scientists and mathematicians. Theoreticians recognized that the concept has opened a new direction in pure mathematics. A. Rosenfeld was the first one to use the notion of a fuzzy subset in several areas of mathematics, especially in fuzzy subgroups of a group. Rosenfeld's papers inspired the development of fuzzy abstract algebra. The purpose of this book is to present an up to date account of fuzzy subgroups of a group, it is the first book dedicated entirely to the rapidly growing field of fuzzy group theory. The book comprises of 10 Chapters. In Chapter 1, the authors first present some basic material concerning fuzzy subsets of a set, introduce the notions of a fuzzy subgroup of a group, normal fuzzy subgroups and complete and weak direct products of fuzzy subgroups. The notion of the fuzzy order of an element of a group is also presented. In Chapter 2, the authors present several fuzzy versions of Lagrange's Theorem and Cayley's Theorem. The authors also consider fuzzy quotient groups, characteristic fuzzy subgroups and conjugate fuzzy subgroups. In Chapter 3, the notion of the ascending central series of a fuzzy subgroup and the notion of the descending central series of a fuzzy subgroup are presented and used to define the nilpotency of a fuzzy subgroup. The notion of commutators to generate the derived chain of a fuzzy subgroup is introduced and is used to define a solvable fuzzy subgroup. In Chapter 4, fuzzy subgroups of Hamiltonian, solvable, \(\pi\)-Hall, and nilpotent groups are examined. The notions of generalized characteristic fuzzy subgroups, fully invariant fuzzy subgroups, and characteristic fuzzy subgroups are introduced. In Chapter 5, the authors present two approaches to show the existence of free fuzzy subgroups. In Chapters 6, the authors study fuzzy subgroups of Abelian groups, develop the notions of independent generators, primary fuzzy subgroups, divisible fuzzy subgroups, and pure fuzzy subgroups. The authors also develop the notions of basic fuzzy subgroups and \(p\)-basic fuzzy subgroups. In Chapter 7, the authors introduce the notion of the fuzzy direct product of fuzzy subgroups defined over subgroups of a group. These ideas are applied to the problem in group theory of obtaining conditions under which a group \(G\) can be expressed as the direct product of its normal subgroups. The numbers of fuzzy subgroups of certain finite Abelian groups with respect to a suitable equivalence relation as determined by Murali and Makamba are considered in Chapter 8. The Abelian groups under consideration are those which are direct sums of cyclic groups of prime order and those of order \(p^nq^m\) for distinct primes \(p\) and \(q\). In Chapter 9, the authors present the work of T. Head concerning methods for deriving fuzzy theorems from crisp ones and embedding lattices of fuzzy subgroups into lattices of crisp subgroups. The work of Ajmaal and Thomas concerning properties of lattices of fuzzy groups is also presented. The first part of Chapter 10 is concerned with deriving membership functions from similarity relations. An algebraic approach for the construction of fuzzy subgroups is also considered. The chapter closes with some applications of fuzzy subgroups to a generalized recognition problem. The book represents a major contribution to the literature on fuzzy groups. It is indispensable for researchers in this field, but also highly suitable as textbook for students at the graduate level.