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

Some characteristics of matroids through rough sets

At present, practical application and theoretical discussion of rough sets are two hot problems in computer science. The core concepts of rough set theory are upper and lower approximation operators based on equivalence relations. Matroid, as a branch of mathematics, is a structure that generalizes linear independence in vector spaces. Further, matroid theory borrows extensively from the terminology of linear algebra and graph theory. We can combine rough set theory with matroid theory through using rough sets to study some characteristics of matroids. In this paper, we apply rough sets to matroids through defining a family of sets which are constructed from the upper approximation operator with respect to an equivalence relation. First, we prove the family of sets satisfies the support set axioms of matroids, and then we obtain a matroid. We say the matroids induced by the equivalence relation and a type of matroid, namely support matroid, is induced. Second, through rough sets, some characteristics of matroids such as independent sets, support sets, bases, hyperplanes and closed sets are investigated.Comment: 13 page

Covering rough sets based on neighborhoods: An approach without using neighborhoods

Rough set theory, a mathematical tool to deal with inexact or uncertain knowledge in information systems, has originally described the indiscernibility of elements by equivalence relations. Covering rough sets are a natural extension of classical rough sets by relaxing the partitions arising from equivalence relations to coverings. Recently, some topological concepts such as neighborhood have been applied to covering rough sets. In this paper, we further investigate the covering rough sets based on neighborhoods by approximation operations. We show that the upper approximation based on neighborhoods can be defined equivalently without using neighborhoods. To analyze the coverings themselves, we introduce unary and composition operations on coverings. A notion of homomorphismis provided to relate two covering approximation spaces. We also examine the properties of approximations preserved by the operations and homomorphisms, respectively.Comment: 13 pages; to appear in International Journal of Approximate Reasonin