3.10. LEVEL CURVES AND ALPHA-CUTS 125
This procedure is called theextension principle. The extension principle can
be viewed as a function
Map(X,Y)→Map(F(X),F(Y)) :f 7 →E(f)
whereMap(X,Y)denotes the set of all functions fromXtoY,F(X)andF(Y)
denote the set of all fuzzy subsets ofXandY, respectively,Map(F(X),F(Y))
is the set of all functions fromF(X)toF(Y),andE(f)(A)=Bas defined in
Equation 3.12.^2
The fuzzy setE(f)(A)=Bobtained above can be viewed as a composition
of functions
B=∨Af−^1
where
f−^1 (y)={x∈X|f(y)=x}
∨is the function from the set of subsets of[0,1]to[0,1]that takes a set to its
supremum
∨:2[0,1]→[0,1] :S 7 →
_
{s:s∈S}
andAis identified with the set function induced byA
A:2X→ 2 [0,1]:S 7 →{A(s)|s∈S}
That is, we have the composition
B:Y
f−^1
→ 2 X→A 2 [0,1]→∨ [0,1]
3.10.2Imagesofalpha-levelsets ..................
Given a functionf:X→Y, there is a connection between theα-level sets, or
theα-cuts, of a fuzzy setAand the fuzzy set∨Af−^1. This relation is important
in the calculus of fuzzy quantities. Note that the functionfinduces a partition
ofXinto the subsets of the formf−^1 (y).
Theorem 3.7LetXandY be sets,A:X→[0,1]andf:X→Y.Then
1.f(Aα)⊆(∨Af−^1 )αfor allα.
2.f(Aα)=(∨Af−^1 )αforα> 0 if and only if for eachy∈Y,∨A(f−^1 (y))≥
αimpliesA(x)≥αfor somex∈f−^1 (y).
3.f(Aα)=(∨Af−^1 )αfor allα> 0 if and only if for eachy∈Y,∨A(f−^1 (y))
=A(x)for somex∈f−^1 (y).
(^2) In appropriate categorical settings, the mapEis functorial.