A lattice structure on hesitant fuzzy sets

Abstract

In this paper we deal with the lattice-compatibility between several classes of extended fuzzy sets. Concretely, we treat the problem of finding a lattice structure on set-valued fuzzy sets (SVFSs) whose restriction to interval-valued fuzzy sets (IVFSs) and (type-1) fuzzy sets (FSs) match Zadeh’s classical lattice operations. A prominent approach to this problem was given by Torra by means of the so-called hesitant fuzzy sets (HFSs). Nevertheless, despite their usefulness in group decision making problems, it is well-known that Torra’s operations do not produce a lattice. Here, we mend partially this handicap by giving two lattice orders. Each of them preserves one of the Torra’s operations and, additionally, reduces to Zadeh’s orders on FSs and on IVFSs. As a counterpart, they cannot be defined on the whole class of HFSs, or SVFSs. Finally, we provide a full answer combining both orders. We define a partial order, that we call the symmetric order, on the whole class of non-empty subsets of [0, 1]. This order extends the usual ones on [0, 1] and on closed intervals of [0, 1]. As a consequence, we find a lattice structure on HFSs whose restriction to FSs and IVFSs reduces to Zadeh’s operations.