1. Introduction and Preleminaries
In today’s complex world, accurate modeling and management of many types of uncertainty are essential to tackle difficult issues in different fields, including environmental science, economics, engineering, social sciences, and medicine. While well-known techniques like probability theory, fuzzy sets [
1], and rough sets [
2] help handle ambiguity and uncertainty, they are not without limitations. These mathematical methods all share the same flaw, which is insufficient parameterization capabilities. In 1999, Molodtsov [
3] introduced soft set theory as a solution to the shortcomings of earlier uncertainty-handling techniques. After that, the interpretation of soft sets for modeling uncertainty has been conducted; advancements in this area are described in [
4,
5]. Equipped with soft sets, parameter sets offer a defined framework that is naturally adaptable, facilitating the modeling of unclear data. Soft set theory and related fields have advanced greatly as a result very soon. As may be observed in [
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12], this has led to several applications of soft sets in real-world fields.
Numerous mathematicians have used soft set theory to introduce various mathematical structures, including soft group theory [
13], soft ring theory [
14], soft convex structures [
15], and soft ideals [
16]. These papers highlight the use of soft set theory in handling challenging mathematical problems.
Shabir and Naz [
17] created soft topology first, and since then, a lot of researchers have focused on extending the topological concepts to include the field of soft topology. For instance, soft metric spaces [
18,
19,
20], soft connected spaces [
21], soft covering properties [
22,
23,
24], and generalized soft open sets [
25,
26,
27,
28,
29] are a few of the notions mentioned. Recent papers [
30,
31,
32,
33,
34,
35,
36,
37] show that research in soft topology is currently ongoing and that there is still an opportunity for important contributions.
The generalizations of soft open sets play an effective role in the structure of soft topology by using them to redefine and investigate some soft topological concepts such as soft continuity, soft compactness, and soft separation axioms. This paper follows this area of research.
The arrangement of this article is as follows:
In
Section 2, we define soft
-open sets. We study the features of sets and show how they relate to well-known other classes of soft sets, like soft
-open sets and soft
-open sets. Furthermore, we investigate the links between this class of soft sets and its classical topology analogs. We also investigate several relationships that contain soft covering properties, such as soft compactness and soft Lindelofness.
In
Section 3, we define four new classes of soft sets. We use them to provide novel decomposition theorems for soft
-openness and soft
-openness, as well as characterize semi-regularized soft topological spaces.
In
Section 4, via soft
-open sets, we define soft
-continuous functions as a new class of soft functions and investigate some of their properties. We give several characterizations of it. Also, we investigate the links between this class of soft functions and its analogs in general topology. Moreover, we show that soft
-continuity is strictly weaker than soft
-continuity.
In
Section 5, we give some findings and potential future studies.
Throughout this paper, we will use the concepts and terminology as they appear in [
38,
39].
Here, we recall some basic definitions and results that will be needed in this sequel.
Let M be an initial universe and Z be a set of parameters. A soft set over M relative to Z is a function , where is the power set of M. The collection of all soft sets over M relative to Z is denoted by . Let . If for every , then G is called the null soft set over M relative to Z and denoted by . If for all , then G is called the absolute soft set over M relative to Z and denoted by . If there exist and such that and for all , then G is called a soft point over M relative to Z and denoted by . The collection of all soft points over M relative to Z is denoted by . If for some and , and for all , then G will be denoted by . If for some , for all , then G will be denoted by . G is called a countable soft set over M relative to Z if is countable for all . The collection of all countable soft sets over M relative to Z will be denoted by . If and , then is said to belong to G (notation: ) if .
Soft topological spaces were defined in [
17] as follows: A triplet
, where
, is called a soft topological space if
,
, and
is closed under finite soft intersections and arbitrary soft unions.
Let be a soft topological space, and let . Then the members of are called soft open sets. The soft complements of the members of are called soft closed sets in . The family of all soft closed sets in will be denoted by . The soft interior and the soft closure of H in will be denoted by and , respectively. Let be a topological space, and let . The interior and the closure of U in will be denoted by and , respectively.
Definition 1 ([
40])
. Let be a topological space, and . Then V is said to be a δ-open set in if for every , we find such that . denotes the family of all δ-open sets in . It is well known that is a topological space with .
Definition 2 ([
41])
. Let be a topological space, and . Then V is said to be a -open set in if for every , we find such that and is a countable set. denotes the family of all -open sets in . It is proved in [
41] that
is a topological space.
Definition 3 ([
41])
. A function between the topological spaces and is called -continuous if for every . Definition 4 ([
39])
. Let be a soft topological space and . Then(a) K is a soft ω-open set in if for any , we find such that and . will denote the family of all soft ω-open sets in .
(b) K is a soft ω-closed set in if .
It is proved in [
39] that
is a soft topological space,
, and
in general.
Definition 5. Let be a soft topological space and . Then
Ref. [42] (a) H is a soft θ-open set in if for any , we find such that . The family of all soft θ-open sets in will be denoted by . Ref. [43] (b) H is a soft δ-open set in if for any , we find such that . Ref. [39] (c) H is a soft ω-open set in if for any , we find such that and . Ref. [44] (d) H is a soft -open set in if for any , we find such that and . Ref. [45] (e) H is a soft -open set in if for any , we find such that and . Ref. [46] (f) H is a soft regular-open set in if . (, , , and ) will denote the family of all soft -open (resp. -open, -open, -open, and regular open) sets in .
It is known that , , , , and are all soft topologies such that and .
Definition 6. A soft topological space is called:
Ref. [39] (a) Soft locally countable if it has a soft base . Ref. [39] (b) Soft anti-locally countable (soft A-L-C) if . Ref. [24] (c) Soft Lindelof if for every such that , there is a countable subcollection such that . Ref. [47] (d) Soft nearly compact if for every such that , there is a finite subcollection such that . Ref. [47] (e) Soft nearly Lindelof if for every such that , there is a countable subcollection such that . Ref. [48] (f) Soft regular if for every and every such that , there exists such that . Ref. [49] (g) Soft semi-regularization topology if . Definition 7 ([
50])
. A soft function is called soft -continuous if for every . Theorem 1 ([
17])
. For any soft topological space and any , the familyforms a topology on M. This topology is denoted by .
Theorem 2 ([
38])
. For any family of topological spaces , the familyforms a soft topology on M relative to A. This soft topology is denoted by .
Theorem 3 ([
38])
. For any topological space and any set of parameters Z, the family defines a soft topology on M relative to Z. denotes this soft topology. 2. Soft -Open Sets
Definition 8. Let be a soft topological space and . Then
(a) K is a soft -open set in if for any , we find such that and . will denote the family of all soft -open sets in .
(b) K is a soft -closed set in if .
Theorem 4. Let be a soft topological space and . Then if and only if for each , we find and such that and .
Proof. Necessity. Suppose that . Let . Then we find such that and . Let . Then and .
Sufficiency. Suppose that for each , we find and such that and . Let . Then, by assumption, we find and such that and . Since , then , and thus, . Therefore, . □
Theorem 5. For any soft topological space , .
Proof. To see that , let and . Since , then . Thus, we have such that , and hence .
To prove that , let and . Then we find such that and . Since , then , and so . Hence, . □
Theorem 6. For any soft topological space , is a soft topological space.
Proof. Since by Proposition 4.2 of [
43],
is a soft topological space, then
. Thus, by Theorem 5,
.
Let
and
. Then
and
. So, we find
such that
and
,
. Since
, then
Hence, .
Let and . Then there exists such that . So, by Theorem 4, we find and such that and . Hence, . □
Theorem 7. If is soft locally countable, then .
Proof. Let be soft locally countable. Let H∈ and . Choose such that . Thus, we have , , and . Hence, H∈. □
Theorem 8. If is a soft semi-regularization topology, then .
Proof. By Theorem 5, it is sufficient to see that . Let H∈ and . Then we find such that and . Since is a soft semi-regularization topology, then , and so . This shows that H∈. □
Theorem 9. For any soft topological space , .
Proof. Let and . Then we find such that and . Since , then , and so . Hence, . □
Lemma 1. Let be a soft topological space, and . Then, for each , .
Proof. Let
. Then
and so, we find
such that
. Thus, we have
and
. Since, by Theorem 30 of [
51],
, then
. □
Theorem 10. Let be a soft topological space. Then, for every , .
Proof. Let . Let and . Then, there exists such that . Thus, , and by Theorem 4, we find and such that and . So, we have , is a countable set, and . On the other hand, by Lemma 1, . This shows that . □
Corollary 1. Let be a soft topological space, and . Then for all .
Proof. Let .Since , then . Thus, by Theorem 9, . □
Theorem 11. Let be a collection of topological spaces. Then .
Proof. To show that
, let
. Let
. We will show that
. Let
. Then
. Since
, we find
and
such that
and
. Now, by Theorem 31 of [
51],
. Thus,
and so
. In contrast, by Lemma 4.9 of [
52],
. Therefore, we have
,
is a countable set, and
. Hence,
.
To show that
, let
. Let
. Then
. So, we find
such that
and
is a countable set. By Lemma 4.9 of [
52],
and so
is a countable set. Therefore, we have
and
. This shows that
. □
Corollary 2. For any topological space and any set of parameters Z, .
Proof. Let
for every
. Then
. Thus, by Theorem 11,
□
The following examples show that equality cannot be used to replace either of the two soft inclusions in Theorem 5:
Example 1. Let , , is a finite set for every . Since is soft locally countable, then by Theorem 7, . Therefore, .
Example 2. Let , , and . Suppose that . Then we find such that . So, we find such that . Thus, , and so . Hence, . Suppose that , then we find such that and . Since , then . But . Therefore, . In contrast, by Theorem 5 of [44], . Additionally, Example 2 demonstrates that need not always be a subset of .
The inclusion in Theorem 9 need not be equality in general:
Example 3. Let , , and
for all .
Then .
Theorem 12. Let be a soft topological space. If , then .
Proof. Let and . Choose such that . Since , then . So, we find and E such that and . So, we have , , and . This shows that . □
Corollary 3. Let be a soft topological space. If , then .
Theorem 12 requires the condition “”, as the following example demonstrates.
Example 4. Let , , , λ be the usual topology on M, and . Since , then by Theorem 5 of [44], . Since is soft regular and , then by Theorem 8, . Thus, . Suppose that . Let . Then we find and such that and . Thus, , and hence . Therefore, W is a countable set, which is impossible. This shows that . Theorem 13. Let be soft Lindelof. Then for every , we have .
Proof. Let . Since , for every , we find such that and . Since , W is a soft Lindelof subset of . Set . Since , then we find a countable subfamily such that . Since is countable, then . Since , . □
Theorem 14. Let be a soft topological space, and . Then we find and such that .
Proof. If , then with and . If , then we find . So, we find and such that and and thus . Let . Then and . □
Theorem 15. A soft topological space is soft A-L-C if and only if is soft A-L-C.
Proof. Necessity. Let be soft A-L-C. To show that is soft A-L-C, on the contrary, we find . Pick . Since , then we find and such that and . Thus, , and hence . Since , then . Since is soft A-L-C, then , a contradiction.
Sufficiency. Clear. □
Theorem 16. Let be soft A-L-C. Then, for every , .
Proof. Let
. By Theorem 5,
, and thus
. Since
is soft A-L-C and
, then by Theorem 21 of [
44],
. Hence,
. □
Corollary 4. Let be soft A-L-C. Then for each , then .
Theorem 17. If is soft Lindelof, then is soft Lindelof.
Proof. Let such that . For each , choose such that . For each , choose and such that and . Since is soft Lindelof and , then there exists a countable subset such that and so
.
Put . Then . For each , choose such that . Put . Then is a countable subcollection of such that . Therefore, is soft Lindelof. □
But the converse of Theorem 17 is not always true:
Theorem 18. Let , , and for all . Let . Then , , and for any countable subcollection , . Therefore, is not soft Lindelof. In contrast, since for any , , then and so . Hence, is soft Lindelof.
Theorem 19. If is soft Lindelof, then is soft nearly Lindelof.
Proof. Let such that . Then , and by Theorem 5, . Since is soft Lindelof, then we find a countable subfamily such that . This shows that is soft nearly Lindelof. □
In general, Theorem 19 cannot be reversed:
Theorem 20. Let , , and
.
Since , then is soft nearly Lindelof. Since for each , , then is soft locally countable. Thus, by Theorem 7, . Since and for any countable subfamily , , then is not soft Lindelof.
Theorem 21. If is soft compact, then is soft nearly compact.
Proof. Let such that . Then , and by Theorem 5, . Since is soft compact, then we find a finite subfamily such that . This shows that is soft nearly compact. □
In general, Theorem 21 cannot be reversed.
Example 5. Let , , and . Then , and thus is soft nearly compact. Since is soft locally countable, then by Theorem 7, . Since and for any finite subfamily , , then is not soft compact.
Example 5 and the following example show that the soft compactness of a soft topological space is neither implied nor imply by the soft compactness of .
Example 6. Let , and
.
Since , then is soft compact. In contrast, it is clear that is not soft compact.
3. Decompositions
Definition 9. Let be a soft topological space and . Then K is
(a) Soft -open set in if .
(b) Soft -open set in if .
(c) Soft -open set in if .
(d) Soft -open set in if .
In a soft topological space , the collections of soft -open sets, soft -open set, soft -open sets, and soft -open sets will be denoted by , , , and , respectively.
Theorem 22. Let be a soft topological space. Then
(a) .
(b) .
(c) .
(d) .
Proof. (a) Let
. Then
. Also, by Theorem 5 and Theorem 5 of [
44],
, and so
. Therefore,
. Hence,
.
(b) Since by Theorem 5, . Then, by (a), . Let . Then . By Theorem 5, , and thus, . Also, since , then , and so . Therefore, we have . This shows that .
(c) Since , then by (c), . Let . Then . Since , then by Theorem 2.3, , and so . Therefore, , and hence .
(d) Let . Then . In contrast, by Theorem 5, we have , then . Therefore, we have and hence . □
As the next two examples show, in general, none of the inclusions in Theorem 22 can be replaced by equality:
Example 7. Let , , and . Let . Suppose that . Then there exists such that . So, we find such that and , which is impossible. Therefore, . In contrast, since , then and . This shows that none of the inclusions in Theorem 22 (a), (b), and (c), cannot be replaced by equality in general.
Example 8. Let , , and
.
Then . As a result, equality in general cannot replace the inclusion in Theorem 22 (d).
For a soft topological space , the first and second components of each of the ordered pairs of classes of soft sets below are not comparable in general, as demonstrated by the following three examples:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Example 9. Let , , and . Then and .
Example 10. Let be as in Example 6. Then .
Example 11. Let , , β be the usual topology on , and . Then .
Theorem 23. Let be a soft topological space. Then
(a) .
(b) .
(c) .
(d) .
(e) .
(f) .
(g) .
Proof. (a) By Theorem 5 and Theorem 5 of [
44],
. In contrast, by Theorem 22 (a),
. Thus,
. To see that
, let
. Since
, then
. Since
, then
. Thus,
, and hence
.
(b) By Theorem 5 and Theorem 22 (b), we have . To see that , let . Then and . Thus, , and hence .
(c) By Theorem 5, we have . Also, by Theorem 22 (c), . Thus, . To see that , let . Then and . Thus, , and hence .
(d) By Theorem 5 of [
45],
. Also, by (c),
. Thus,
. In contrast, by Theorem 9 and (c),
.
(e) Let . Then and . Thus, , and hence .
(f) Let . Then and . Thus, , and hence .
(g) We have . Also, by (e), . Hence, . In contrast, we have . Also, by (f), . Hence, . □
Corollary 5. Let be a soft topological space and . Then if and only if .
Proof. The proof follows from Theorem 23 (g). □
Theorem 24. Let be a soft topological space. Then is a soft semi-regularization topology if and only if .
Proof. Necessity. Let be a soft semi-regularization topology. Then . Thus, by Theorem 22 (b), .
Sufficiency. Let . To see that , let . Then . So, we have , , and . Thus, . Hence, . □
Theorem 25. A soft topological space is soft regular if and only if .
Proof. Necessity. Let be soft regular. Then . Thus, by Theorem 22 (c), .
Sufficiency. Let . To see that , let . Then . So, we have , , and . Thus, . Hence, . □
4. Soft -Continuity
Definition 10. A soft function is called soft -continuous if for every .
Theorem 26. For a soft function
, the following are equivalent:
(1) is soft -continuous.
(2) for every .
(3) for each .
(4) for each .
(5) is soft continuous.
(6) For each and each such that , we find such that and .
Proof. (1)⟶(2): Let . Then . So, by (1), . Hence, .
(2)⟶(3): Let . Then . So, by (2), . Since , then .
(3)⟶(4): Let
. Then, by (3),
and so
.
(4)⟶(5): Let . Then , and by (4), . Thus, . Hence, . This shows that is soft continuous.
(5)⟶(6): Let and such that . Then, by (5), . Put . Then such that and .
(6)⟶(1): Let . To show that , let . Then , and by (6), we find such that and . Thus, we have . Hence, . □
Theorem 27. If is soft -continuous, then is -continuous for every .
Proof. Suppose that
is soft
-continuous, and let
. By Theorem 4.2 (5),
is soft continuous. So, by Proposition 3.8 of [
38],
is continuous. Since, by Theorem 10,
, then
is continuous. Hence, by Theorem 4.2 (5) of [
41],
is
-continuous. □
Theorem 28. Let and be two collections of topological spaces. Let and be functions where v is bijective. Then is soft -continuous if and only if is -continuous for all .
Proof. Necessity. Let
be soft
-continuous. Let
. Then, by Theorem 27,
is
-continuous. But by Theorem 3.11 of [
38],
and
. Hence,
is
-continuous.
Sufficiency. Let be -continuous for all . Let . By Theorem 11, it is sufficient to show that for all . Let . Since is -continuous and , then . □
Corollary 6. Let and be two functions where v is a bijection. Then is -continuous if and only if is soft -continuous.
Proof. For each and , put and . Then and . By using Theorem 28, we get the result. □
Theorem 29. Let be soft -continuous and surjective. If is soft Lindelof, then is soft Lindelof.
Proof. Let such that . Then . Since is soft -continuous, then . Since is soft Lindelof, then we find a countable subfamily such that . So, . Since is surjective, then . Thus, , and hence . This shows that is soft Lindelof. □
Corollary 7. Let be soft -continuous and onto. If is soft Lindelof, then is soft Lindelof.
Proof. The proof follows from Theorems 17 and 29. □
Theorem 30. Every soft -continuous function is soft -continuous.
The following illustration shows that Theorem 30 ’s converse need not always hold true:
Example 12. Let be as in Example 2.14. Let and be the identity functions. Since , then is soft -continuous but not soft -continuous.