On (G,N)-implications derived from grouping functions

Overlap and grouping functions are special kinds of non-necessarily associative aggregation operators recently proposed for applications in classification problems involving the overlap problem and/or when the associativity property is not strongly required, as in image processing and decision making based on fuzzy preference relations, respectively. The concepts of indifference and incomparability defined in terms of overlap and grouping functions may allow their application in several different contexts. This paper introduces the concept of (G,N)-implication, for a grouping function G and a fuzzy negation N. (G,N)-implications are weaker then (S,N)-implications for positive and continuous t-conorms S, in the sense that (G,N)-implications do not necessarily satisfy certain properties, as the exchange and the left neutrality principles, which are not demanded for applications in decision making based on fuzzy preference relations. We analyze several related important properties, providing a characterization of (G,N)-implications.