Fuzzy Relational Compositions Based on Generalized Quantifiers

Abstract

Fuzzy relational compositions have been extensively studied by many authors. Especially, we would like to highlight initial studies of the fuzzy relational compositions motivated by their applications to medical diagnosis by Willis Bandler and Ladislav Kohout. We revisit these types of compositions and introduce new definitions that directly employ generalized quantifiers. The motivation for this step is twofold: first, the application needs for filling a huge gap between the classical existential and universal quantifiers and second, the already existing successful implementation of generalized quantifiers in so called divisions of fuzzy relations, that constitute a database application counterpart of the theory of fuzzy relational compositions. Recall that the latter topic is studied within fuzzy relational databases and flexible querying systems for more than twenty years. This paper is an introductory study that should demonstrate a unifying theoretical framework and introduce that the properties typically valid for fuzzy relational compositions are valid also for the generalized ones, yet sometimes in a weaken form. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.