Covering matroid

In this paper, we propose a new type of matroids, namely covering matroids, and investigate the connections with the second type of covering-based rough sets and some existing special matroids. Firstly, as an extension of partitions, coverings are more natural combinatorial objects and can sometimes be more efficient to deal with problems in the real world. Through extending partitions to coverings, we propose a new type of matroids called covering matroids and prove them to be an extension of partition matroids. Secondly, since some researchers have successfully applied partition matroids to classical rough sets, we study the relationships between covering matroids and covering-based rough sets which are an extension of classical rough sets. Thirdly, in matroid theory, there are many special matroids, such as transversal matroids, partition matroids, 2-circuit matroid and partition-circuit matroids. The relationships among several special matroids and covering matroids are studied.Comment: 15 page

Rough matroids based on coverings

The introduction of covering-based rough sets has made a substantial contribution to the classical rough sets. However, many vital problems in rough sets, including attribution reduction, are NP-hard and therefore the algorithms for solving them are usually greedy. Matroid, as a generalization of linear independence in vector spaces, it has a variety of applications in many fields such as algorithm design and combinatorial optimization. An excellent introduction to the topic of rough matroids is due to Zhu and Wang. On the basis of their work, we study the rough matroids based on coverings in this paper. First, we investigate some properties of the definable sets with respect to a covering. Specifically, it is interesting that the set of all definable sets with respect to a covering, equipped with the binary relation of inclusion $\subseteq$, constructs a lattice. Second, we propose the rough matroids based on coverings, which are a generalization of the rough matroids based on relations. Finally, some properties of rough matroids based on coverings are explored. Moreover, an equivalent formulation of rough matroids based on coverings is presented. These interesting and important results exhibit many potential connections between rough sets and matroids.Comment: 15page

Matroidal and Lattices Structures of Rough Sets and Some of Their Topological Characterizations

Matroids, rough set theory and lattices are efficient tools of knowledge discovery. Lattices and matroids are studied on preapproximations spaces. Li et al. proved that a lattice is Boolean if it is clopen set lattice for matroids. In our study, a lattice is Boolean if it is closed for matroids. Moreover, a topological lattice is discussed using its matroidal structure. Atoms in a complete atomic Boolean lattice are completely determined through its topological structure. Finally, a necessary and sufficient condition for a predefinable set is proved in preapproximation spaces. The value k for a predefinable set in lattice of matroidal closed sets is determined

Matroidal and Lattices Structures of Rough Sets and Some of Their Topological Characterizations

Matroids, rough set theory and lattices are efficient tools of knowledge discovery. Lattices and matroids are studied on preapproximations spaces. Li et al. proved that a lattice is Boolean if it is clopen set lattice for matroids. In our study, a lattice is Boolean if it is closed for matroids. Moreover, a topological lattice is discussed using its matroidal structure. Atoms in a complete atomic Boolean lattice are completely determined through its topological structure. Finally, a necessary and sufficient condition for a predefinable set is proved in preapproximation spaces. The value k for a predefinable set in lattice of matroidal closed sets is determined

Matroidal Structure of Rough Sets Based on Serial and Transitive Relations

The theory of rough sets is concerned with the lower and upper approximations of objects through a binary relation on a universe. It has been applied to machine learning, knowledge discovery, and data mining. The theory of matroids is a generalization of linear independence in vector spaces. It has been used in combinatorial optimization and algorithm design. In order to take advantages of both rough sets and matroids, in this paper we propose a matroidal structure of rough sets based on a serial and transitive relation on a universe. We define the family of all minimal neighborhoods of a relation on a universe and prove it satisfies the circuit axioms of matroids when the relation is serial and transitive. In order to further study this matroidal structure, we investigate the inverse of this construction: inducing a relation by a matroid. The relationships between the upper approximation operators of rough sets based on relations and the closure operators of matroids in the above two constructions are studied. Moreover, we investigate the connections between the above two constructions