1. Introduction
Intuitionistic fuzzy set, which is introduced by Atanassov [
1], is a generalization of Zadeh’s fuzzy sets [
2], and consider both truth-membership and falsity-membership. Since the sum of degree true, indeterminacy and false is one in intuitionistic fuzzy sets, incomplete information is handled in intuitionistic fuzzy sets. On the other hand, neutrosophic sets can handle the indeterminate information and inconsistent information that exist commonly in belief systems in a neutrosophic set since indeterminacy is quantified explicitly and truth-membership, indeterminacy-membership and falsity-membership are independent, which is mentioned in [
3]. As a formal framework that generalizes the concept of the classic set, fuzzy set, interval valued fuzzy set, intuitionistic fuzzy set, interval valued intuitionistic fuzzy set and paraconsistent set, etc., the neutrosophic set is developed by Smarandache [
4,
5], which is applied to various parts, including algebra, topology, control theory, decision-making problems, medicines and in many real-life problems. The concept of interval neutrosophic sets is presented by Wang et al. [
6], and it is more precise and more flexible than the single-valued neutrosophic set. The interval neutrosophic set can represent uncertain, imprecise, incomplete and inconsistent information, which exists in the real world.
-algebra is introduced by Imai and Iséki [
7], and it has been applied to several branches of mathematics, such as group theory, functional analysis, probability theory and topology, etc. As a generalization of
-algebra, Iséki introduced the notion of
-algebra (see [
8]).
In this article, we discuss interval neutrosophic sets in -algebra. We introduce the notion of -interval neutrosophic subalgebra in -algebra for , and investigate their properties and relations. We also introduce the notion of interval neutrosophic length of an interval neutrosophic set, and investigate related properties.
3. Interval Neutrosophic Subalgebra
In what follows, let and be the family of all subintervals of unless otherwise specified.
Definition 2 ([
3,
6]).
An interval neutrosophic set in a nonempty set X is a structure of the form:wherewhich is called interval truth-membership function,which is called interval indeterminacy-membership function, andwhich is called interval falsity-membership function. For the sake of simplicity, we will use the notation
for the interval neutrosophic set
Given an interval neutrosophic set
in
X, we consider the following functions:
and
Definition 3. For any , an interval neutrosophic set in X is called a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of X if the following assertions are valid.
- (1)
is an i-fuzzy subalgebra of and is a j-fuzzy subalgebra of ,
- (2)
is a k-fuzzy subalgebra of and is an l-fuzzy subalgebra of ,
- (3)
is an m-fuzzy subalgebra of and is an n-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Example 1. Consider a -algebra with the binary operation *, which is given in Table 1 (see [10]). (1) Let be an interval neutrosophic set in for which and are given as follows:and It is routine to verify that is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of .
(2) Let be an interval neutrosophic set in for which and are given as follows:and By routine calculations, we know that is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of .
Example 2. Consider a -algebra with the binary operation *, which is given in Table 2 (see [10]). Let be an interval neutrosophic set in for which and are given as follows:and Routine calculations show that is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of . However, it is not a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of sinceand/or In addition, it is not a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of sinceand/or Let
be an interval neutrosophic set in
X. We consider the following sets:
and
where
,
,
,
,
and
are numbers in
.
Theorem 1. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , , , , and are either empty or subalgebra of for all , , , , , .
Proof. Assume that
is a
-interval neutrosophic subalgebra of
. Then,
,
and
are 1-fuzzy subalgebra of
X; and
,
and
are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
X. Let
,
be such that
and
are nonempty. For any
, if
, then
and
, and so
that is,
. If
, then
and
, which imply that
that is,
. Hence,
and
are subalgebra of
for all
,
. Similarly, we can prove that
,
,
and
are either empty or subalgebra of
for all
,
,
,
. Suppose that
is a
-interval neutrosophic subalgebra of
. Then,
,
and
are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
X; and
,
and
are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
X. Let
and
be such that
and
are nonempty. Let
. Then,
and
. It follows that
and so
. Thus,
is a subalgebra of
. If
, then
and
. Hence,
and so
. Thus,
is a subalgebra of
. Similarly, we can show that
,
,
and
are either empty or subalgebra of
for all
,
,
,
. ☐
Since every 2-fuzzy subalgebra is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra, we have the following corollary.
Corollary 1. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , , , , and are either empty or subalgebra of for all , , , , , .
By a similar way to the proof of Theorem 1, we have the following theorems.
Theorem 2. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , , , , and are either empty or subalgebra of for all , , , , , .
Corollary 2. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , , , , and are either empty or subalgebra of for all , , , , , .
Theorem 3. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , , , , and are either empty or subalgebra of for all , , , , , .
Corollary 3. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , , , , and are either empty or subalgebra of for all , , , , , .
Theorem 4. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , , , , and are either empty or subalgebra of for all , , , , , .
Corollary 4. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , , , , and are either empty or subalgebra of for all , , , , , .
Theorem 5. Let be an interval neutrosophic set in X in which , , , , and are nonempty subalgebra of for all , , , , , . Then, is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of .
Proof. Suppose that
is not a 1-fuzzy subalgebra of
. Then, there exists
such that
If we take
, then
but
. This is a contradiction, and so
is a 1-fuzzy subalgebra of
. If
is not a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
, then
for some
, and so
and
by taking
This is a contradiction, and therefore is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of . Similarly, we can verify that is a 1-fuzzy subalgebra of and is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of ; and is a 1-fuzzy subalgebra of and is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of . Consequently, is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of . ☐
Using the similar method to the proof of Theorem 5, we get the following theorems.
Theorem 6. Let be an interval neutrosophic set in X in which , , , , and are nonempty subalgebra of for all , , , , , . Then, is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of .
Theorem 7. Let be an interval neutrosophic set in X in which , , , , and are nonempty subalgebra of for all , , , , , . Then, is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of .
Theorem 8. Let be an interval neutrosophic set in X in which , , , , and are nonempty subalgebra of for all , , , , , . Then, is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of .
4. Interval Neutrosophic Lengths
Definition 4. Given an interval neutrosophic set in X, we define the interval neutrosophic length of as an ordered triple whereandwhich are called interval neutrosophic T-length, interval neutrosophic I-length and interval neutrosophic F-length of , respectively. Example 3. Consider the interval neutrosophic set in X, which is given in Example 2. Then, the interval neutrosophic length of is given by Table 3. Theorem 9. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , and are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Proof. Assume that
is a
-interval neutrosophic subalgebra of
. Then,
,
and
are 2-fuzzy subalgebra of
X, and
,
and
are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
X. Thus,
and
for all
. It follows that
and
Hence,
and
for all
. Therefore,
,
and
are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
.
Suppose that
is a
-interval neutrosophic subalgebra of
. Then,
,
and
are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
X, and
,
and
are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
X. Hence,
and
for all
. Label (
5) implies that
If
, then
If
, then
It follows that . Therefore, is a 3-fuzzy subalgebra of . Similarly, we can show that and are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of . ☐
Corollary 5. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then , and are 1-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Theorem 10. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of , then , and are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Proof. Let
be a
-interval neutrosophic subalgebra of
. Then,
,
and
are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
X, and
,
and
are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
X. Thus,
and
for all
. It follows from Label (
6) that
Assume that
. Then,
If
, then
Hence,
for all
. By a similar way, we can prove that
and
for all
. Therefore,
,
and
are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
. ☐
Theorem 11. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of , then , and are 2-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Proof. Assume that
is a
-interval neutrosophic subalgebra of
. Then,
,
and
are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
X, and
,
and
are 2-fuzzy subalgebra of
X. Hence,
and
for all
, which imply that
and
It follows that
and
for all
. Hence,
,
and
are 2-fuzzy subalgebra of
. ☐
Corollary 6. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of , then , and are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Theorem 12. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then
- (1)
is a 3-fuzzy subalgebra of .
- (2)
is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of .
- (3)
is a 2-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Proof. Assume that
is a
-interval neutrosophic subalgebra of
. Then,
is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
X,
is a 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
X,
is a 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
X,
is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
X,
is a 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
X, and
is a 2-fuzzy subalgebra of
X. Hence,
and
for all
. Then,
by Label (
7). It follows from Label (
8) that
or
and so that
for all
. Thus,
is a 3-fuzzy subalgebra of
. The condition (
10) implies that
Combining Labels (
9) and (
13), we have
or
It follows that
for all
. Thus,
is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of
. Using Labels (
11) and (
12), we have
and
and so
for all
. Therefore,
is a 2-fuzzy subalgebra of
. Similarly, we can prove the desired results for
. ☐
Corollary 7. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then
- (1)
is a 1-fuzzy subalgebra of .
- (2)
and are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of .
By a similar way to the proof of Theorem 12, we have the following theorems.
Theorem 13. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then
- (1)
is a 3-fuzzy subalgebra of .
- (2)
and are 2-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Corollary 8. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then
- (1)
is a 1-fuzzy subalgebra of .
- (2)
and are 4-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Theorem 14. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then
- (1)
and are 3-fuzzy subalgebra of .
- (2)
is a 2-fuzzy subalgebra of .
Corollary 9. If an interval neutrosophic set in X is a -interval neutrosophic subalgebra of for , then
- (1)
and are 1-fuzzy subalgebra of .
- (2)
is a 4-fuzzy subalgebra of .