Sets of solution-set equivalent coefficient matrices of fuzzy relation equations (Q918979)

For A an \(n\times n\) matrix and b an m-dimensional vector with decreasing coefficients (both with coefficients in the unit interval), an equation (*) \(xA=b\) with max and min playing the role of addition and multiplication is considered. Another \(n\times n\) matrix B is said to be solution-set equivalent to the set of solutions of (*) if it yields the same solutions when substituted for A in (*). Various aspects of such equations are considered. Among them: minimal and greatest solutions (with respect to the componentwise ordering) and the so-called characteristic matrices for minimal and greatest solutions. The only result which can be quoted here is the following (Theorem 3.1.8): Two equations of type (*) have the same solutions if and only if they have common greatest solutions and common minimal solutions.