First-Order Linear Fuzzy Differential Equations On The Space of Linearly Correlated Fuzzy Numbers

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Fuzzy Sets and Systems ••• (••••) •••–•••
www.elsevier.com/locate/fss
First-order linear fuzzy differential equations on the space of linearly

correlated fuzzy numbers
Yonghong Shen
School of Mathematics and Statistics, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui 741001, PR China
Received 19 May 2020; received in revised form 8 November 2020; accepted 11 November 2020
Abstract
The present paper is concerned with the solutions of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations where differentiability of fuzzy
functions is defined under an assumption of linear correlation between fuzzy numbers. Motivated by the fact that the structure of the
space of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers strongly depends on the symmetry of the basic fuzzy number, here we address first-order
linear fuzzy differential equations by distinguishing whether the basic fuzzy number is symmetric or not. In the non-symmetric
case, a first-order linear fuzzy differential equation may be transformed into an equivalent system of ordinary differential equations
related to the representation functions of the linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function. In the symmetric case, according
to the monotonicity of the diameter of the fuzzy solution, a first-order linear fuzzy differential equation may be transformed
into a system of ordinary differential equations associated with the representation functions of the canonical form of the linearly
correlated fuzzy number-valued function. In addition, using our extension method one may obtain solutions with either increasing
or decreasing diameters. Several examples are provided in order to illustrate the proposed method.
© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Fuzzy number difference; Differentiability; Canonical form; Linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions; First-order linear
fuzzy differential equations
1. Introduction
The emergence of fuzzy differential equations made it possible to deal with or to simulate the evolution of variables
with uncertainty. A fuzzy differential equation has different solutions thus leading to multiple interpretations, with dif-
ferent meanings, of the same equation. Generally speaking, there are at least three methods to solve fuzzy differential
equations. The first one has been developed by Oberguggenberger and Pittschmann [17], which have applied Zadeh’s
extension principle to solve the corresponding crisp differential equation, and then obtain the fuzzy solution. The
second method is to solve a family of differential inclusions derived from the fuzzy differential equation at different
α-level sets with the help of the representation theorem for fuzzy sets [8,11]. Both of the above-mentioned methods
lack fuzzy derivatives. Furthermore, another problem arises with the second method: there is no guarantee that the
E-mail address: shenyonghong2008@hotmail.com.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fss.2020.11.010
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Y. Shen Fuzzy Sets and Systems ••• (••••) •••–•••
set-valued solutions of the set-valued differential equations obtained at each level actually form the level cuts of a
fuzzy-valued solution of the fuzzy differential equation. This phenomenon may undermine the overall effectiveness of
the method [6]. The third method, which is the most widely used, is based on several results in the field of calculus of
fuzzy functions. As it is well known, the concept of derivative of fuzzy functions is a crucial ingredient of fuzzy calcu-
lus. The concept of H-derivative of a fuzzy function has been introduced by Puri and Ralscu in 1983 [20], and it may
be regarded as a generalization of the Hukuhara differentiability of set-valued mappings. The study of the initial value
problem of fuzzy differential equations based on the theory of H-derivative has been initiated by Kaleva [13]. How-
ever, there are some issues with H-derivative: the first is that given two fuzzy number, the H-difference does not always
exist. Additionally, the length of the support of the solution obtained by using the H-derivative is non-decreasing. The
problems have remained unsolved until 2005, when the concept of strongly generalized derivative of fuzzy number-
valued functions has been introduced by Bede and Gal [2]. The strongly generalized differentiability allows a fuzzy
differential equation to have two solutions. Besides, the length of the support of these solutions is non-increasing and
non-decreasing, respectively. In the meantime, new interesting topics have emerged, such as the selection of the switch
point, and the switch point of the solution. However, and most importantly, the above mentioned problems caused by
the Hukuhara difference still exist. In 2010, the notion of the generalized Hukuhara difference for intervals and fuzzy
numbers has been proposed by Stefanini [26] and then, gH-derivative of fuzzy number-valued functions has been in-
troduced by Bede and Stefanini [4]. However, there is no guarantee that the generalized Hukuhara difference exists for
any two fuzzy numbers. Besides, the theory of gH-derivative meets the same problems encountered with the concept
of strongly generalized derivative. To overcome the deficiencies of the generalized Hukuhara difference, the concept
of g-derivative based on generalized difference has been introduced by Bede and Stefanini [4]. After that, Gomes and
Barros [10] further improved the definition of the generalized difference. However, the generalized difference is too
involved to be calculated and be applied.
The simplest form of fuzzy differential equations is the first-order linear fuzzy differential equation. In 2006, Nieto
et al. [22] considered the solutions of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations with constant coefficients using
the concept of H-differentiability. Soon after that, Bede et al. [3] established the variation of constant formula for
first-order linear fuzzy differential equations under the gH-derivative when the coefficient function does not change
sign over a given interval. Several years later, Khastan et al. [14] obtained the explicit solution of the first-order linear
fuzzy differential equations using the strongly generalized differentiability, and assuming that the coefficient function
of the equation is constant and positive or negative definite. Afterwards, the authors of [23] considered Ulam stability
of first order linear fuzzy differential equations using generalized differentiability. At the same time, Khastan and
Rodríguez-López [15] studied the periodic solutions of first order linear fuzzy differential equations by using the
differential inclusion method. Furthermore, they [16] also studied different formulas for the solutions of the first-order
linear fuzzy differential equation and the existence conditions of the solutions under generalized differentiability. In
2018, Chehlabi and Allahviranloo [7] studied the positive and negative solutions to a class of first-order fully fuzzy
linear differential equations, and obtained the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the solution
using the concept of generalized differentiability.
As it is well known, arithmetic operations between fuzzy numbers are defined using the Zadeh’s extension prin-
ciple. From the perspective of arithmetic operations on random variables, the operations on fuzzy numbers actually
imply the non-interactivity between two fuzzy numbers. Based on this idea, Carlsson et al. [5] introduced addition
and subtraction of interactive fuzzy numbers using the generalized extension principle. In general, the interactivity is
reflected by a certain joint distribution function. In 2016, the interactive fuzzy derivative of fuzzy number-valued func-
tions has been introduced by Barros and Pedro [1]. To avoid the use of a joint distribution function, they introduced
the concept of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers. For this type of fuzzy number-valued functions, the interactive fuzzy
derivative is closely related to the H-derivative and gH-derivative. In some examples, e.g. autocorrelated fuzzy dy-
namic processes, such as the population dynamic model [18], and the fuzzy boundary valued problem [12], one may
clearly see the advantages of using the interactive fuzzy derivative. In 2018, Esmi et al. [9] considered the Fréchet
derivative of linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions by introducing an operator from the 2-dimensional
Euclidean space to the space of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers. In the following, Pedro et al. [19] developed cal-
culus of linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions. In fact, the structure of the space of linearly correlated
fuzzy numbers depends on the symmetry of the basic fuzzy number. Specifically, this space is a linear one if the basic
fuzzy number is a non-symmetric fuzzy number, whereas if the basic fuzzy number is symmetric, then the space is
not a linear space. Therefore, the calculus they established are mainly for the case where the basic fuzzy number is
2
non-symmetric. In order to solve this limitation, the author [24] reconsidered the calculus of linearly correlated fuzzy
number-valued functions with the help of their representation functions. In details, the differentiability of a linearly
correlated fuzzy number-valued function can be characterized by its representation functions. If the basic fuzzy num-
ber is non-symmetric, the differentiability is equivalent to the Fréchet differentiability proposed by Esmi et al. [9],
and it is also equivalent to the differentiability of its representation functions. In addition, if the basic fuzzy number
is symmetric, then the differentiability can be described by the representation functions of the canonical form of a
linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function. For the non-symmetric case, the operator introduced in [9] is a
linear isomorphism from the two-dimensional Euclidean space to the space of linearly correlated fuzzy number. And
then, the addition and scalar multiplication in the space of linearly related fuzzy number can be defined by this linear
isomorphism and similar operations in the Euclidean space. Therefore, the difference can be naturally derived from
the addition and the scalar multiplication. However, when the basic fuzzy number is symmetric, it is impossible to
directly propose a suitable difference through the addition and the scalar multiplication mentioned above, because the
operator is no longer a linear isomorphism and the space of linearly correlated fuzzy number spaces is also not linear.
To deal with this problem, the author [25] introduced a difference operation in the space of linearly correlated fuzzy
numbers, we call linearly correlated difference (LC-difference for short). Coincidentally, the LC-difference and the
gH difference introduced in [26] are equal for interval numbers. It is worth mentioning that LC-difference is adaptable
regardless of whether the basic fuzzy number is symmetric or non-symmetric, and this difference always exists in the
space of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers. Based on the LC-difference, the LC-derivative was also proposed for the
linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function. Incidentally, the LC-differentiability, the Fréchet differentiability
and the differentiability introduced in [24] are equivalent if the basic fuzzy number is non-symmetric. The Fréchet
derivative has been defined with the help of the related theory in functional analysis. Compared with the Fréchet deriva-
tive, the LC-derivative is introduced by using the derivative of the representation functions of linearly correlated fuzzy
number-valued functions. In addition, LC-derivative is not only suitable for linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued
functions with the non-symmetric basic fuzzy number, but also it may be employed to deal with the differentiability of
linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions with the symmetric fuzzy number. As an important application of
LC-derivative, the main purpose of the present paper is to solve the first-order linear fuzzy differential equation using
the concept of LC-differentiability. The basic form of the first-order linear fuzzy differential equation is as follows:

a(t) A y (t) ⊕A b(t) A y(t) = f (t), t ∈ I,
(1)
y(0) = y0 ,
where a, b : I → R are two continuous real-valued functions, f : I → RF (A) is a linearly correlated fuzzy number-
valued function, y0 ∈ RF (A) .
2. Preliminaries
In this section, we shall review some basic concepts and results associated with the operations of fuzzy numbers
and linearly correlated fuzzy numbers, and the LC-derivative of linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions,
which are derived from [1,9,19–21,24,25].
2.1. The space of fuzzy numbers
Throughout this paper, let R denote the set of all real numbers and let RF denote the class of fuzzy sets A : R →
[0, 1] with the following properties:
(i) A is normal, i.e., there exists x0 ∈ R such that A(x0 ) = 1;

(ii) A is fuzzy convex, that is, A(λx + (1 − λy)) ≥ min{A(x), A(y)} for all x, y ∈ R and all λ ∈ [0, 1];
(iii) A is upper semicontinuous;
(iv) cl{x ∈ R|A(x) > 0} is compact, where the symbol cl stands for the closure of a set.
Usually, the set RF is called the space of fuzzy numbers. Especially, if we consider each real number r ∈ R to
be equivalent to its characteristic function χ{r} , then R ⊂ RF . For A ∈ RF and 0 < α ≤ 1, the α-level set can be
3
defined by [A]α = {x ∈ R|A(x) ≥ α}. The 0-level set of A is called the support of A, which is defined by [A]0 =
cl{x ∈ R|A(x) > 0}. Using the above properties of the fuzzy number, for each α ∈ [0, 1], it is easy to see that the α-
level set [A]α is a bounded and closed interval in R. For convenience, we write [A]α = [Aα , Aα ] for each α ∈ [0, 1].
The length of the support of A is called the diameter of the fuzzy number A, i.e. len(A) = A0 − A0 . In particular,
a triangular fuzzy number B and a trapezoidal fuzzy number C can be represented by a triple B = (a, b, c) and a
quadruple C = (a, b, c, d), respectively, where a ≤ b ≤ c ≤ d. Correspondingly, the α-level sets of B and C are given
by
[B]α = [a + (b − a)α, c − (c − b)α],
[C]α = [a + (b − a)α, d − (d − c)α].
Based on the Zadeh’s extension principle, the addition ⊕ and the scalar · in RF can be defined by
(B ⊕ C)(x) = sup {min{B(y), C(z)}},
y+z=x
⎧
⎪
⎨B( λ ), λ
= 0,
x
(λ · B)(x) = (λB)(x) = 1, x = 0, λ = 0,
⎪
⎩
0, x
= 0, λ = 0,
where B, C ∈ RF , λ ∈ R. Furthermore, we can obtain
[B ⊕ C]α = [B]α + [C]α , [λ · B]α = λ[B]α ,

for each α ∈ [0, 1], where
[B]α + [C]α = {x + y| x ∈ [B]α , y ∈ [C]α }, λ[B]α = {λx| x ∈ [B]α }.

A fuzzy number A ∈ RF is said to be symmetric with respect to x ∗ ∈ R if the membership function A(x) satisfies
A(x ∗ + x) = A(x ∗ − x)
for all x ∈ R. Naturally, x ∗ is called the symmetry point of A. Otherwise, we say that A is non-symmetric if there
exists no x ∗ ∈ R such that the above equality holds. Note that the symmetry point x ∗ is unique if A is symmetric.
2.2. The space of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers
Let A ∈ RF . Define
A (q, r) = qA ⊕ χ{r} ,
where (q, r) ∈ R2 (2-dimensional Euclidean space). Clearly, the operator A associates each tuple (q, r) in R2 to the
fuzzy number A (q, r) in RF . For simplicity, the expression qA ⊕ χ{r} can be simplified to qA + r. The image of
the operator A is denoted by RF (A) = {A (q, r)| (q, r) ∈ R2 }. If a fuzzy number B ∈ RF (A) , then there exists a
tuple (q, r) ∈ R2 such that B = A (q, r) = qA + r. In this case, we call B an A-linearly correlated fuzzy number.
Further, the set RF (A) is called the set of A-linearly correlated fuzzy numbers. In particular, the inclusion relation
R ⊂ RF (A) ⊂ RF is obvious, since r = A (0, r) for any r ∈ R. Moreover, the α-level set of A (q, r) can be written
as
[A (q, r)]α = {qx + r| x ∈ [A]α } = q[A]α + r,

for all α ∈ [0, 1].
In fact, the structure of the set RF (A) is closely related to the symmetry of the fuzzy number A. Specifically, if A
is a non-symmetric fuzzy number, then the operator A is a bijection from R2 to RF (A) . Using the operator A , the
addition ⊕A and the scalar multiplication A can be defined by
B ⊕A C = A (−1 −1
A (B) + A (C)),
λ A B = A (λ · −1
A (B)),
4
where B, C ∈ RF (A) and λ ∈ R. More importantly, when A is a non-symmetric fuzzy number, by Lemma 5 and
Corollary 1 in [19], the algebraic operations introduced above are independent of the choice of the basic fuzzy number
A. Accordingly, the triple (RF (A) , ⊕A , A ) forms a linear space on the real number field R. However, if A ∈ RF \ R
is a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ , then the operator A is not a bijection from R2 to RF (A) .
Since A (q, r) = A (−q, 2qx ∗ + r), the preimage −1 ∗
A (B) = {(q, r), (−q, 2qx + r)} for B = qA + r. To introduce
the algebraic operations in RF (A) when A is a symmetric fuzzy number, an equivalence relation ≡A is defined in
R2 by (q, r) ≡A (p, s) if and only if (q, r) = (p, s) or (q, r) = (−p, 2px ∗ + s) for (q, r), (p, s) ∈ R2 . Define the
equivalence class
def
[(q, r)]≡A = {(q, r), (−q, 2qx ∗ + r)}.
Using the equivalence relation ≡A , the quotient set of R2 is defined by
def
R2 / ≡A = {[(q, r)]≡A |(q, r) ∈ R2 }.
In order to facilitate the introduction of algebraic operations in R2/ ≡A , we choose the tuple (q, r) with q ≥ 0 as the
representative element. When performing algebraic operations between equivalence classes, we always follow this
principle. Furthermore, the addition ⊕ A in R2 / ≡A are introduced as follows:
A and the scalar multiplication
A [(p, s)]≡A = [(q + p, r + s)]≡A ,
[(q, r)]≡A ⊕

[(λq, λr)]≡A , λ ≥ 0,
λA [(q, r)]≡A =
[(−λq, 2λqx ∗ + λr)]≡A , λ < 0,
A : R2 / ≡ A →
where [(q, r)]≡A , [(p, s)]≡A ∈ R2 / ≡A and λ ∈ R with q, p ≥ 0. Then, we introduce the operator
RF (A) , which is defined by
A ([(q, r)]≡A ) = qA + r,

where [(q, r)]≡A ∈ R2 / ≡A . Clearly, A is a bijection. Based on the operator A and the algebraic operations in
R2 / ≡A , the addition ⊕A and the scalar multiplication A in RF (A) can be defined by
−1 (B)⊕
A (
B ⊕A C = −1 (C)),
A
A A
A (λ
λ A B = −1 (B))
A A
for all B, C ∈ RF (A) and λ ∈ R.
In essence, Proposition 5 [26] shows that the algebraic operations are also independent of the choice of the fuzzy
number A even if A is symmetric. Generally, we call the set RF (A) the space of A-linearly correlated fuzzy numbers
if the algebraic operations are introduced. According to the algebraic operations in RF (A) , the difference A can be
induced by
B A C = B ⊕A (−1) A C
for any B, C ∈ RF (A) . By Proposition 3.5 in [24], we obtain B A B = B ⊕ (−B)
= 0 if B ∈ RF \ R is a symmetric
fuzzy number. To deal with this problem, the linearly correlated difference (LC-difference in short) is introduced in
A ) according to whether A is a symmetric fuzzy number.
RF (A) using the operator A (or
Definition 2.1 ([25]). Let A ∈ RF be a non-symmetric fuzzy number and let B, C ∈ RF (A) with B = A (q, r) and
C = A (p, s). The LC-difference of B and C is defined by
B A C = A (q − p, r − s) = (q − p)A + r − s.
Definition 2.2 ([25]). Let A ∈ RF \R be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetric point x ∗ and let B, C ∈ RF (A)
with B = A ([(q, r)]A ) and C =
A ([(p, s)]A ). The LC-difference of B and C is defined by
A [(p, s)]A ),
A ([(q, r)]A
B A C =
A in R2 \ ≡A is defined by
where the difference
5

[(q − p, r − s)]A , q ≥ p,
[(q, r)]A A [(p, s)]A =
[(p − q, 2(q − p)x ∗ + r − s)]A , q < p.
In [25], it is proved that the LC-difference and the gH-difference are equivalent for interval numbers, since each
interval number can be regarded as a symmetric fuzzy number. Therefore, the LC-difference can be seen as a gener-
alization of the gH-difference of interval numbers in the space of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers RF (A) .
Remark 1. Note that the space (RF (A) , ⊕A , A ) forms a linear space provided that A is a non-symmetric fuzzy
number. Meantime, the difference A induced by the algebraic operations ⊕A and A is coincident with the LC-
difference A , i.e., B A C = B A C for any B, C ∈ RF (A) . Consequently, the equality B ⊕A C = D is equivalent
to B = D A C.
Lemma 2.1. Let A ∈ RF \ R be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetric point x ∗ and let B, C, D ∈ RF (A) .
Then
(i) B ⊕A C = D =⇒ B = D A C.
(ii) B = D A C =⇒ B ⊕A C = D or (−1) A B ⊕A D = C.
Proof. (i) Assume that there exist [(q, r)]≡A , [(p, s)]≡A , [(w, u)]≡A in R2 \ ≡A such that
A ([(q, r)]≡A ), C =
B = A ([(p, s)]≡A ), D =
A ([(w, u)]≡A ).
Then, the equality B ⊕A C = D implies
q + p = w, r + s = u.
Since q, p, w ≥ 0, it follows that p ≤ w, w − p = q and u − s = r. By Definition 2.2, we can infer that
A [(p, s)]≡A )
A ([(w, u)]≡A
D A C =
=A ([(w − p, u − s)]≡A )
A ([(q, r)]≡A )
=
= B.
(ii) Using the representation of B, C, D in (i), we can obtain
A [(p, s)]A ).
A ([(w, u)]A
D A C =
Case I: If p ≤ w, by Definition 2.2, then we get
A ([(q, r)]A ) = B = D A C =
A ([(w − p, u − s)]A ).
Therefore, it follows that
q + p = w, r + s = u.
Thus, we can infer that
A ([(w, u)]A )
D=
A ([(q + p, r + s)]A )
=
A ([(q, r)]A ) ⊕A
= A ([(p, s)]A )
= B ⊕A C.
Case II: If p > w, according to Definition 2.2, then we can obtain
6
A ([(q, r)]A ) = B

= D A C
= (−1) A (C A D)
which yields (−1) A B = C A D. Using the result of Case I, it follows that C = (−1) A B ⊕A D.
Remark 2. In general, when A is a symmetric fuzzy number, the result of Lemma 2.1 shows that B ⊕A C = D
B = D A C. Indeed, when considering the equations B ⊕A X = D and X = D B with an unknown quantity X in
RF (A) , if X ∗ ∈ RF (A) is a solution of the equation B ⊕A X = D, then X ∗ also satisfies the equation X = D B. But
the reverse is not true.
2.3. The metric in the space of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers
Considering the relevance of the introduced concepts, we only give the basic definitions related to the metric in
RF (A) . For more detailed properties, we can infer to [19,25]. If A is a non-symmetric fuzzy number, then the norm
· A in RF (A) is introduced as follows
BA = −1
A (B)∞ ,
where B ∈ RF (A) , · ∞ stands for the infinity norm of R2 . Based on the LC-difference, the metric dA induced by
the norm · A is given by
dA (B, C) = B A CA

= B A CA
= A (−1 −1
A (B) A A (C))A
= −1 −1
A (B) − A (C)∞ ,
where B, C ∈ RF (A) .
If A is a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ , then the norm ·
A in RF (A) is defined by
B −1 (B)∞

A = ,
A
where B ∈ RF (A) , · ∞
denotes the norm in the quotient set R / ≡A . Specifically, for [(q, r)]≡A ∈ R / ≡A , we have
2 2
∗
[(q, r)]≡A ∞
= max{(q, r)∞ , (−q, 2qx + r)∞ }
= max{|q|, |r|, |2qx ∗ + r|}.
Similarly, using the LC-difference, the metric d
A in RF (A) can be induced by
A (B, C) = B A C
d A .
2.4. The LC-derivative of linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions
Let I be an interval and let f : I → RF (A) . If there exists a pair of real-valued functions q, r : I → R such that
f (t) = q(t)A + r(t) for each t ∈ I , then we say that f is a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function on I .
Meantime, the pair of functions (q(t), r(t)) are called the representation functions of f . Based on the LC-difference
in RF (A) , the corresponding derivative can be introduced.
Definition 2.3. Let A ∈ RF be a non-symmetric fuzzy number and let f : I → RF (A) be a linearly correlated fuzzy
number-valued function with f (t) = q(t)A + r(t). Assume that B = q0 A + r0 ∈ RF (A) and t0 ∈ I . If for any ε > 0,
there exists δ = δ(ε) > 0 such that dA (f (t), B) < ε for all t ∈ U−0 (t0 , δ) = (t0 − δ, t0 ) (U+0 (t0 , δ) = (t0 , t0 + δ)), then
we say that B is the left (right) limit of f at t0 . Meantime, we write lim f (t) = B ( lim f (t) = B).
t→t0 − t→t0 +
7
Especially, if lim f (t) = lim f (t) = B, then B is called the limit of f at t0 and it is denoted by lim f (t) = B.
t→t0 − t→t0 + t→t0
Using the definition of the metric dA , it is easy to check that
lim f (t) = B
t→t0
if and only if
lim q(t) = q0 , lim q(t) = r0 .

t→t0 t→r0
Definition 2.4. Let A ∈ RF be a non-symmetric fuzzy number and let f : I → RF (A) be a linearly correlated
fuzzy number-valued function with f (t) = q(t)A + r(t). For t0 ∈ I , we say that f is continuous at t0 provided
that lim f (t) = f (t0 ).
t→t0
More generally, f is called a continuous function on I if f is continuous for each t ∈ I . Clearly, the continuity of
f on I is equivalent to the continuity of the representation functions q and r on I .
Definition 2.5 ([25]). Let A ∈ RF be a non-symmetric fuzzy number and let f : I → RF (A) be a linearly correlated
fuzzy number-valued function with f (t) = q(t)A + r(t). For t0 ∈ int (I ), we say that f is left (right) LC-differentiable
at t0 provided that the following limit
1
lim A (f (t) A f (t0 )) (2)
t→t0 −(t→t0 +) t − t0
exists in the sense of the metric dA . Meantime, the left LC-derivative and the right LC-derivative of f at t0 are
denoted by f− (t0 ) and f+ (t0 ), respectively.
Definition 2.6 ([25]). Let A ∈ RF be a non-symmetric fuzzy number and let f : (a, b) → RF (A) be a linearly cor-
related fuzzy number-valued function with f (t) = q(t)A + r(t). For t0 ∈ (a, b), we say that f is LC-differentiable
at t0 provided that f is both left and right LC-differentiable and f− (t0 ) = f+ (t0 ). Furthermore, the LC-derivative is
denoted by f (t0 ).
When A is a symmetric fuzzy number, a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function f may have many
infinitely representation functions. Considering the structure of the space RF (A) , we introduce the canonical form of a
linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function f (t) = q(t)A + r(t) provided that A is a symmetric fuzzy number.
Definition 2.7 ([24]). Let A ∈ RF be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ . Suppose that f (t) =
q(t)A + r(t) is a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function. Then the canonical form of f is defined by
A ([
f (t) = r(t)]≡A ) =
q (t), q (t)A +
r(t),
where

q(t), q(t) ≥ 0, r(t), q(t) ≥ 0,

q (t) =
r(t) =
−q(t), q(t) < 0, 2q(t)x ∗ + r(t), q(t) < 0.
Using the canonical form of f and the metric d A , the limit and continuity of f can be defined similar to the
case where A is non-symmetric. Analogously, the continuity of f is equivalent to the continuity of the representation
functions
q and
r. Next, we introduce the LC-differentiability of a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function.
Definition 2.8 ([25]). Let A ∈ RF \ R be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ and let f : I →
RF (A) be a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function with the canonical form f (t) = q (t)A + r(t). For
t0 ∈ int (I ), we say that f is left (right) LC-differentiable at t0 provided that the limit of (2) exists in the sense of
the metric d A .
8
Generally, the left LC-derivative and the right LC-derivative of f at t0 are denoted by f− (t0 ) and f+ (t0 ), respec-
tively.
Definition 2.9 ([25]). Let A ∈ RF \ R be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ and let f : (a, b) →
RF (A) be a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function with the canonical form f (t) = q (t)A + r(t). For
t0 ∈ (a, b), we say that f is LC-differentiable at t0 provided that f is both left and right LC-differentiable and f− (t0 ) =
f+ (t0 ). Correspondingly, the LC-derivative is also denoted by f (t0 ).
Lemma 2.2 ([25]). Let A ∈ RF be a non-symmetric fuzzy number and let f : I → RF (A) be a linearly correlated
fuzzy number-valued function with f (t) = q(t)A + r(t). Then f is LC-differentiable on I if and only if q and r are
differentiable on I . Meantime, f (t) = q (t)A + r (t) for each t ∈ I .
Lemma 2.3 ([25]). Let A ∈ RF \ R be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ and let f : I → RF (A)
be a continuous linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function with the canonical form f (t) = q (t)A +r(t). For
each t ∈ I , the function f is LC-differentiable at t if and only if
q and
r are both left and right differentiable at t and
satisfy one of the following conditions

(i)
q− (t) =
q+ (t),
r− (t) =
r+ (t),

or (ii)
q− (t) = −
q+ (t),
r− (t) = 2
q+ (t)x ∗ +
r+ (t),
where (t) (
q− (t)) and
r− (t) (
q+ (t)) denote the left derivative and right derivative of
r+ q (
r) at t , respectively.
Remark 3. From Lemma 2.3, the differentiability of q and

r is a sufficient but not necessary condition for the LC-
differentiability of a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function f . However, the LC-differentiability of f
already implies the continuity of q and r. Combined with the condition (ii), the t0 ∈ I is a sharp point of
q or
r
provided that q or
r is not differentiable at t0 .
3. Solution of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations with the non-symmetric fuzzy number
In this section, we shall consider the solution of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations where A is a non-
symmetric fuzzy number. Since the space RF (A) is a linear space provided that A is a non-symmetric fuzzy number.
Then, the linear differential equation (1) is independent of the representation of the equation.
Definition 3.1. Let y : I → RF (A) be a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function. We say that y is a solution
of Eq. (1) provided that y is LC-differentiable on I and satisfies the equation (1).
Let f : I → RF (A) be a continuous linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function with f (t) = g(t)A + h(t).
Assume that y : I → RF (A) is a solution of Eq. (1). Then there exists a pair of real-valued functions q, r : I → R
such that y(t) = q(t)A + r(t) for each t ∈ I . Similarly, for y0 ∈ RF (A) , there exists a pair of numbers (q0 , r0 ) such
that y0 = q0 A + r0 . By Lemma 2.2, y(t) is a solution of Eq. (1) if and only if q and r are differential on I and satisfy
the following two independent equations:

a(t)q (t) + b(t)q(t) = g(t), t ∈ I, t0 ∈ I,
(3)
q(t0 ) = q0 ,
and

a(t)r (t) + b(t)r(t) = h(t), t ∈ I, t0 ∈ I,
(4)
r(t0 ) = r0 .
Using the above equivalence relation and the result of the classical linear differential equation of first order, the
following conclusion can be obtained.
9
Theorem 3.1. Let A be a non-symmetric fuzzy number and let a, b : I → R be continuous real-valued functions with
a(t)
= 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function with
f (t) = g(t)A + h(t). Then the solution y(t) of the first-order linear fuzzy differential equation (1) is given by
y(t) = q(t)A + r(t), t ∈ I,

where q(t) and r(t) are the solutions of the first-order linear differential equations (3) and (4), respectively. Moreover,
q(t) and r(t) are given by

t
t
ν
b(ν) g(ν) b(τ )
q(t) = exp − dν q0 + exp − dτ dν ,
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
ν
b(ν) h(ν) b(τ )
r(t) = exp − dν r0 + exp − dτ dν .
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0
Example 1. Let A = (−1, 0, 2) be a triangular fuzzy number. Consider the following first-order linear fuzzy differen-
tial equation
⎧
⎨y (t) ⊕A cos t A y(t) = sin 2tA + 1 sin 4t,
4
(5)
⎩y(0) = A − 1.
Let y(t) = q(t)A + r(t). By Theorem 3.1, the equation (5) is equivalent to the following two independent linear
differential equations:

q (t) + cos tq(t) = sin 2t,
(6)
q(0) = 1,
and

r (t) + cos tr(t) = 14 sin 4t,
(7)
r(0) = −1.
By solving the systems (6) and (7), we can obtain
⎧
⎨q(t) = 3 exp(− sin t) + 2 sin t − 2,
⎩r(t) = −12 exp(− sin t) + 3 cos 2t − 1 sin 3t + 25
sin t + 14.
2 2
Then, the fuzzy solution of Eq. (5) is

1 25
y(t) = (3 exp(− sin t) + 2 sin t − 2)A − 12 exp(− sin t) + 3 cos 2t −
sin 3t + sin t + 14.
2 2
Fig. 1 shows the representation functions of the fuzzy solution y(t) and the grayscale image of the fuzzy solution y(t)
on the interval [0, 4π], respectively.
Example 2. Let A = (−1, 0, 1, 3) be a trapezoidal fuzzy number. Consider the following linear fuzzy differential
equation with constant coefficients:

2 A y (t) ⊕A 3 A y(t) = cos tA + sin t,
(8)
y(0) = A.
Here we assume y(t) = q(t)A + r(t). From Theorem 3.1, Eq. (8) is equivalently transformed into the two independent
linear differential equations:
10
Fig. 1. The representation functions of the fuzzy solution y(t) = q(t)A + r(t) (a) and the grayscale image of the fuzzy solution y(t) (b). (For
interpretation of the colors in the figure(s), the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 2. The representation functions of the fuzzy solution y(t) = q(t)A + r(t) (a) and the grayscale image of the fuzzy solution y(t) (b).

2q (t) + 3q(t) = cos t,
(9)
q(0) = 1,
and

2r (t) + 3r(t) = sin t,
(10)
r(0) = 0.
Then, we can infer from Eqs. (9) and (10) that
⎧
⎨q(t) = 1 (10 exp(− 3t ) + 3 cos t + 2 sin t),
13 2
⎩r(t) =
13 (2 exp(− 2 ) − 2 cos t + 3 sin t).
1 3t
Therefore, we can obtain

1 3t 1 3t
y(t) = (10 exp(− ) + 3 cos t + 2 sin t)A + (2 exp(− ) − 2 cos t + 3 sin t).
13 2 13 2
Fig. 2. shows the representation functions and the grayscale image of the fuzzy solution y(t) on the interval [0, 4π ],
respectively. Since A is a trapezoidal fuzzy, the blank area between the two darkest curves in the grayscale image
actually represents the area where the membership function is equal to 1.
Remark 4. In [19], the authors have shown how to solve first-order linear fuzzy differential equations using the
Fréchet-derivative. However, the Fréchet-differentiability and the LC-differentiability are equivalent for linearly cor-
related fuzzy number-valued functions where the basic fuzzy number is non-symmetric. Therefore, the method for
solving first-order linear fuzzy differential equations shown in this part is consistent with the method proposed in
[19].
11
4. Solution of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations with the symmetric fuzzy number
In this section, we will consider the solution of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations based on the symmetry
of the basic fuzzy number and the form of the equation.
When A is a symmetric fuzzy number, the set RF (A) cannot form a linear space under the operations ⊕A and A .
Indeed, Eq. (1) is not a linear fuzzy differential equation in the true sense, because it depends on the position of each
term on the left or right side of the equation. For conceptual consistency, it is still called the linear fuzzy differential
equation.
Generally, an algebraic equation B ⊕A X = D is not necessarily solvable if A is a symmetric fuzzy number. Assume
that the canonical forms of B and D are given by
A (
B = q ,
r), A (
D= w ,
u).
Based on the addition of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers, we know that the sufficient and necessary condition for
the equation B ⊕A X = D to be solvable is q ≤w. Similarly, the solution of a linear fuzzy differential equation does
not necessarily exist provided that A is a symmetric fuzzy number.
According to Lemma 2.3, we present the differentiable solution and the continuous solution of the linear fuzzy
differential equation (1), respectively.
Definition 4.1. Let y : I → RF (A) be a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function with the canonical form
y(t) =
q (t)A + r(t). We say that y is a differentiable solution of Eq. (1) if
q and
r are differentiable, and y satisfies
the equation (1) on I .
Definition 4.2. Let y : I → RF (A) be a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function with the canonical form
y(t) =
q (t)A + r(t). We say that y is a continuous solution of Eq. (1) if
q and
r are both left and right differentiable,
and y satisfies the equation (1) on I .
Obviously, a differentiable solution must be a continuous solution, the converse is not true.
Remark 5. When A is a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ and y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) is a solution of
Eq. (1), the diameter or width len([y(t)]0 ) of the 0-level sets of the solution y(t) mainly depends on the representation
function q (t). Specifically, len([y(t)]0 ) =
q (t)(A0 − A0 ). Moreover, the trajectory of the solution y(t) depends on the
symmetry point x ∗ and the representation functions r(t). Especially, if x ∗ = 0, then the trend of the trajectory
q (t) and
depends only on the representation function r(t).
Example 3. Let A = (−1, 0, 1) be a symmetric triangular fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ = 0.
(i) Assume that f (t) = (t + 1)A + t 2 , t ∈ [0, +∞). Taking q (t) = t + 1, q (t) = 1 and
r(t) = t 2 . Clearly, r (t) = 2t .

By Lemma 2.3, f (t) is LC-differentiable on [0, +∞) and f (t) = A + 2t .
(ii) Assume that g(t) = (1 − t)A + t 2 , t ∈ [0, +∞). Then the canonical form of g(t) is g(t) = |1 − t|A + t 2 , where

q (t) = |1 − t|,
r(t) = t 2 . Furthermore, q− (1) = −1, (1) = 1, and
q+

−1, 0 ≤ t < 1,

q (t) = r (t) = 2t, t ≥ 0.

1, t > 1,
According to Lemma 2.3, g(t) is LC-differentiable on [0, +∞). Using the definition of the canonical form, we
get g (t) = A + 2t.
(iii) Let h(t) = p(t)A + r(t), t ∈ [0, +∞), where
p(t) = |t − 2n − 1|, 2n ≤ t ≤ 2(n + 1), n ∈ N, r(t) = t 2 .
Then, we can obtain p− (2n + 1) = −1, p (2n + 1) = 1, p (2n + 2) = 1, p (2n + 1) = −1, and
+ − +

−1, 2n < t < 2n + 1,
p (t) = r (t) = 2t, t ≥ 0.
1, 2n + 1 < t < 2n + 2,
12
By Lemma 2.3, h(t) is LC-differentiable on [0, +∞). Furthermore, the canonical form of h (t) is h (t) = A + 2t .
Now, we consider the fuzzy differential equation

y (t) = A + 2t,
(11)
y(0) = A = (−1, 0, 1).
From Example 3, f (t) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (11), g(t) and h(t) are continuous solutions of Eq. (11)
on [0, +∞). Not only that, we can find many continuous solutions to Eq. (11) by using the similar method as in
Example 3. The above statements show that the solution of a first-order linear fuzzy differential equation with the
initial condition is not unique if A is a symmetric fuzzy number.
4.1. The case of a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≥ 0
Lemma 4.1. Let A be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ and let a, b : I → R be continuous real-
valued functions with a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≥ 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated fuzzy
number-valued function with the canonical form f (t) = g (t)A +
h(t). Then y(t) = q (t)A +r(t) is the differentiable
solution of Eq. (1) on the interval I0 ⊂ I , t0 ∈ I0 , y0 =
q0 A +
r0 , if and only if
q (t) and r(t) satisfy the following
system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨a(t) q (t) + b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t) r (t) + b(t)r(t) = h(t), (12)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
q0 ,
r(t0 ) =r0 ,
q (t) ≥ 0 on I0 , or satisfy the following system of equations
if
⎧
⎪
⎨−a(t) q (t) + b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) + b(t) q (t)x ∗ ,
r(t) = h(t) − 2a(t) (13)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
q0 ,
r(t0 ) = r0 ,
q (t) < 0 on I0 .
if
Proof. Since y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (1) on the interval I0 ⊂ I , t0 ∈ I0 . By Defini-
tion 4.1,
q (t) and
r(t) are differentiable on I0 . Using the operator A , it follows from Eq. (1) that
A ([|
a(t) A q (t)|, A ([
rc (t)]≡A ) ⊕A b(t) A r(t)]≡A ) =
q (t), g (t),
A ([ h(t)]≡A ),
where

r (t),
q (t) ≥ 0,
rc (t) =

2q (t)x ∗ + r (t),
q (t) < 0.
Furthermore, we can obtain
A (a(t)
q (t)|,
A [(| rc (t))]≡A ⊕
A b(t)
A [( r(t))]≡A ) =
q (t), g (t),
A ([( h(t))]≡A ).
A is a bijection, the preceding relation is equivalent to
Since
a(t) q (t)|,
A [(| rc (t))]≡A ⊕
A b(t)
A [( g (t),
r(t))]≡A = [(
q (t), h(t))]≡A .
Equivalently, it follows that
⎧
⎪
⎨a(t)| q (t)| + b(t) q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
rc (t) + b(t)
r(t) = h(t), (14)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
q0 ,
r(t0 ) = r0 .
q (t) ≥ 0, and Eq. (14) is equivalent to Eq. (13) if
Obviously, Eq. (14) is equivalent to Eq. (12) if q (t) < 0.
13
Remark 6. From Remark 5 and Lemma 4.1, the diameter of the solution y(t) obtained from Eq. (12) is nondecreasing
as the variable t increases. On the contrary, the diameter of the solution y(t) obtained from Eq. (13) is nonincreasing
as the variable t increases.
Theorem 4.2. Let A be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ and let a, b : I → R be continuous
real-valued functions with a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≥ 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated
fuzzy number-valued function with the canonical form f (t) = g (t)A + h(t). Then:
(i) If y(t) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (1) with the non-decreasing diameter on I0 ⊂ I , t0 ∈ I0 , y0 =
q0 A +
r0 ,
then
y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t), t ∈ I0 ,
where

t
t
ν
b(ν)
g (ν) b(τ )

q (t) = exp − q0 +
dν exp dτ dν ,
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
ν b(τ )
b(ν) h(ν)

r(t) = exp − r0 +
dν exp dτ dν .
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0
(ii) If y(t) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (1) with the non-increasing diameter on I1 ⊂ I , t0 ∈ I1 , y0 =
q0 A +
r0 ,
then
y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t), t ∈ I1 ,
where

t b(ν)
t

g (ν)
ν b(τ )

q (t) = exp q0 −
dν exp − dτ dν ,
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
ν b(τ )
b(ν) h(ν) ∗

r(t) = exp − r0 +
dν − 2
q (ν)x exp dτ dν .
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0
Proof. (i) If y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (1) with the non-decreasing diameter on I0 ⊂ I ,
then q (t) and
r(t) are solutions of the system of equations (12) according to Lemma 4.1. Since the two first-order
linear differential equations in the system of equations (12) are independent with respect to the unknown quantities q
and r, the conclusion (i) can be obtained by using the integral factor method.
(ii) Assume y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (1) with the non-increasing diameter on I1 ⊂ I .
By Lemma 4.1, q (t) and r(t) are solutions of the system of equations (13). In (13), the first equation is the first-order
linear differential equation related only to the unknown quantity q . Then,
q (t) can be obtained by this equation, and
thus substitute it into the second equation to find r(t). So the conclusion (ii) holds true.
Remark 7. According to the results (i) and (ii) of Theorem 4.2, in general, we can obtain two differentiable solutions
with non-decreasing and non-increasing diameters in the interval I0 and I1 , respectively. In addition, Theorem 4.2
also provides the possibility to extend the solution. In other words, it is possible to expand the differentiable solution
with only non-decreasing or non-increasing diameter into a continuous or differentiable solution where the diameter
of the solution alternates between non-decreasing and non-increasing.
Let y(t) be a differentiable solution of Eq. (1) with the non-decreasing diameter on the interval [t0 , t1 ] I =
[t0 , ∞). This implies that
q and
r are solutions of the system of equations (12). The steps to extend the solution are
as follows:
14
(i) Using the system of equations (13), we reconstruct the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨−a(t) q (t) + b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) + b(t) r(t) = q (t)x ∗ ,
h(t) − 2a(t) (15)
⎪
⎩
q (t1 ) = q1 ,
r(t1 ) = r1 .
If the system of equation (15) is solvable on the interval [t1 , t2 ] with q (t) < 0, then y(t) =
q (t)A + r(t) is a
solution of Eq. (1) with the nonincreasing diameter on the interval [t1 , t2 ]. Combining the solution y(t) on the
intervals [t0 , t1 ] and [t1 , t2 ], the solution y(t) extended to the interval [t0 , t2 ] can be obtained. By (13) and (15), it
is easy to see that q− (t ) = − q+ (t ). If (t ) =
q− (t ) = 0, i.e.,
q+ q (t1 ) = 0, then y(t) is a differentiable solution
1 1 1 1
of Eq. (1) on [t0 , t2 ]. Otherwise, it follows from Definition 4.2 that y(t) is a continuous solution of Eq. (1) on
[t0 , t2 ]. Especially, if the system of equation (15) is solvable on the interval [t1 , ∞) with q (t) < 0, then the
solution y(t) can be extended to the interval [t0 , t1 ] ∪ [t1 , ∞) = I . That is a saturated solution.
(ii) If [t0 , t2 ] I , by the system of equations (12), we reconstruct the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨a(t) q (t) + b(t) q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) + b(t)
r(t) = h(t), (16)
⎪
⎩
q (t2 ) =
q2 ,
r(t2 ) = r2 .
If the system of equation (16) is solvable on the interval [t2 , t3 ] with q (t) ≥ 0, then y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) is a
solution of Eq. (1) with the nondecreasing diameter on the interval [t2 , t3 ]. Similar to the step (i), the solution
y(t) of Eq. (1) can be extended to the interval [t0 , t3 ]. Similarly, if the system of equation (16) is solvable on the
interval [t2 , ∞) with q (t) ≥ 0, then the solution y(t) can be extended to the interval [t0 , t2 ] ∪ [t2 , ∞) = I . That
is a saturated solution.
(iii) Repeating steps (i) and (ii), if the systems of equations (15) and (16) are always solvable with the required sign
q (t), then an extended solution y(t) can be obtained in an interval I⊂ I .
of
Remark 8. If y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (1) with the non-increasing diameter on I0 ⊂ I ,
the steps to extend the solution are similar. For the differentiable solution obtained by the extension, since the node that
needs to be selected during the extension is determined (that is, the first differentiable extreme point of the function q
in the interval (t0 , ∞)), the extension method of the corresponding solution is also fixed. Thus, the obtained solution
is unique. However, for the continuous solution, the way of extension is uncertain, since the required nodes can also
choose other points in addition to the first single zero of q in the process of extension of the solution. So the continuous
solution obtained by the extension is not unique (see Example 3). To ensure the uniqueness of the extended solution,
only the first single zero of q is considered when performing the extension of the solution throughout this paper.
Remark 9. Theorem 4.2 and the extension method of the solution stated above show that, in general, if a first-order
linear fuzzy differential equation has a solution with the non-increasing (non-decreasing) diameter on a certain inter-
val, then this solution is also unique. However, the solution obtained by extension shows non-uniqueness due to the
different choice of starting point in the extension process.
Example 4. Let A = (−1, 0, 1) be a symmetric triangular fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ = 0. Here we con-
g (t)A +
sider the first-order linear fuzzy differential equation (11). Note that I = [0, +∞) and f (t) = h(t) = A + 2t .
Assume y(t) = q (t)A + r(t). Obviously, y(0) =
q (0)A + r(0) = A.
(i) Assume that y(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (11) with the non-decreasing diameter on I0 ⊂ I . By
Lemma 4.1, the equation (11) becomes the following system of the first-order ordinary differential equations
⎧
⎪
⎨q (t) = 1,
r (t) = 2t, (17)
⎪
⎩
q (0) = 1, r(0) = 0.
From the system of equations (17), we can obtain
q (t) = 1 + t , q (t) =
r(t) = t 2 . Meantime, we know I0 = I due to
1 > 0. Then y(t) = (1 + t)A + t is a differentiable solution of Eq. (11) with the non-decreasing diameter on I =
2
15
Fig. 3. The representation functions

q (t) and
r(t) (a) and the grayscale image of the differentiable solution y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (11) (b).

q (t) and
r(t) (a) and the grayscale image of the continuous solution y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t) obtained by the
extension of Eq. (11) (b).
[0, +∞). Fig. 3 shows the representation functions q (t) and

r(t) and the grayscale image of the differentiable solution
y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) of Eq. (11).
(ii) Assume that y(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (11) with the non-increasing diameter on I1 ⊂ I . By
Lemma 4.1, the equation (11) becomes the following system of the first-order ordinary differential equations
⎧
⎪
⎨− q (t) = 1,
r (t) = 2t, (18)
⎪
⎩

q (0) = 1, r(0) = 0.
By solving (18), it follows that q (t) = 1 −t ,
r(t) = t 2 . Moreover, the condition
q (t) ≥ 0 implies I1 = [0, 1]. Obviously,
y(t) = (1 − t)A + t is a differentiable solution of Eq. (11) with the non-increasing diameter on [0, 1]. Since
2 q (t)
is decreasing on [0, 1] and q (1) = 0. In order to extend y(t), by Remark 7, we construct the following system of
equations
⎧
⎪
⎨q (t) = 1,
r (t) = 2t,
(19)
⎪
⎩

q (1) = 0, r(1) = 1.
From (19), we can obtain that q (t) = t − 1 and
r(t) = t 2 . Clearly, q (t) = 1 > 0 on [1, +∞). Note
q (t) ≥ 0 and

q− (1) = −1 and
that
q+ (1) = 1. Combining the solutions on the intervals [0, 1] and [1, +∞). Then, we know that
y(t) = |t − 1|A + t 2 is a continuous solution of Eq. (11) on I = [0, +∞), where the diameter of the solution y(t) is
decreasing on [0, 1] and the diameter of the solution y(t) is increasing on [1, +∞). Fig. 4 shows the representation
functions q (t) and
r(t) and the grayscale image of the continuous solution y(t) = q (t)A +
extension of Eq. (11).
16

q (t) and
q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (20) (b).
Example 5. Let A = (0, 1, 2) be a symmetric triangular fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ = 1. Consider the
fuzzy differential equation

y (t) ⊕A 1t A y(t) = tA + t 2 ,
(20)
y(1) = A
on the interval I = [1, +∞).

(i) Assume that y(t) = q (t)A +
r(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (20) with the non-decreasing diameter on
I0 ⊂ I . By Lemma 4.1, the equation (20) becomes the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪ q (t) + 1t
q (t) = t,
⎪
⎨
r (t) + 1t
r(t) = t 2 , (21)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩

q (1) = 1, r(1) = 0.
q (t) = 2(t3t−1)
3
t 3 +2
r(t) = t 4t−1 . Since
4
By solving the system of equations (21), we can obtain
q (t) = 3t , q (t) ≥ 0 and 2 ≥
t 3 +2 t 4 −1
0 on [1, +∞), we know I0 = I . Then y(t) = +
3t A is a differentiable solution of Eq. (20) with the non-
4t
decreasing diameter on I = [1, +∞). Fig. 5 shows the representation functions q (t) and
r(t) and the grayscale image
of the differentiable solution y(t) = q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (20).
(ii) Assume that y(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (20) with the non-increasing diameter on I1 ⊂ I . Since
x ∗ = 1, by Lemma 4.1, the equation (20) becomes the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪ − q (t) + 1t
q (t) = t,
⎪
⎨
q (t) +
2 r (t) + 1t
r(t) = t 2 , (22)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩

q (1) = 1, r(1) = 0.
1−12t 2 +8t 3 +3t 4
By solving (22), it follows that
q (t) = 2t − t 2 ,
r(t) = 12t . Moreover, the condition
q (t) ≥ 0 implies
1−12t 2 +8t 3 +3t 4
I1 = [1, 2]. Obviously, y(t) = (2t − t 2 )A + 12t is a differentiable solution of Eq. (20) with the non-
increasing diameter on [1, 2]. Since q (t) is decreasing on [1, 2] and
q (2) = 0. By Remark 7, we can extend the
solution y(t). Now, we construct the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪ q (t) + 1t
q (t) = t,
⎪
⎨
r (t) + 1t
r(t) = t 2 , (23)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩

q (2) = 0, r(2) = 6524 .
17

q (t) and
q (t)A +
3
q (t) = t 3t−8 and +17
3 4
From (23), we can obtain that r(t) = 3t 12t . Clearly, q (t) = 2(4+t
q (t) ≥ 0 and 3t 2
)
> 0 on [2, +∞).
Moreover, we know q− (2) = −2 and q+ (2) = 2. Combining the solutions on the intervals [1, 2] and [2, +∞). Here,
we redefine
⎧ ⎧
⎨2t − t 2 , t ∈ [0, 2], ⎨ 1−12t +8t +3t , t ∈ [0, 2],
2 3 4
12t

q (t) = 3 r(t) =
⎩ t −8 , t ∈ (2, +∞), ⎩ 3t 4 +17 , t ∈ (2, +∞).
3t 12t
From Remark 7, we know that y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) is a continuous solution of Eq. (20) on I = [1, +∞), where the
diameter of the solution y(t) is decreasing on [1, 2] and the diameter of the solution y(t) is increasing on [2, +∞).
Fig. 6 shows the representation functions q (t) and
r(t) and the grayscale image of the continuous solution y(t) =

q (t)A +r(t) obtained by the extension of Eq. (20).
4.2. The case of a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≤ 0
valued functions with a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≤ 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated fuzzy
q0 A +
r0 , if and only if
system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨a(t) q (t) − b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) + b(t) q (t)x ∗ ,
r(t) = h(t) − 2b(t)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
q0 ,
r(t0 ) =r0 ,
if
⎧
⎪
⎨−a(t) q (t) − b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) + b(t) r(t) = h(t) + 2g (t)x ∗ ,
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
q0 ,
r(t0 ) = r0 ,
q (t) < 0 on I0 .
if
Proof. The proof of this lemma is completely similar to Lemma 4.1, we omit it here.
real-valued functions with a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≤ 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated
18
q0 A +
r0 ,
then
y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t), t ∈ I0 ,
where

t b(ν)
t

g (ν)
ν b(τ )

q (t) = exp q0 +
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
ν b(τ )
b(ν) h(ν)
b(ν) ∗

r(t) = exp − r0 +
dν −2
a(ν) a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0
q0 A +
r0 ,
then
y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t), t ∈ I1 ,
where

t b(ν)
t

g (ν)
ν b(τ )

q (t) = exp − q0 −
dν exp dτ dν ,
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
ν
b(ν)
h(ν) g (ν) ∗
b(τ )

r(t) = exp − r0 +
dν +2 x exp dτ dν .
a(ν) a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0
Proof. Using the similar argument as in Theorem 4.2, the theorem can be proved by Lemma 4.3.
Remark 10. The methods of the extension of the solutions mentioned in Theorem 4.4 are similar to the statements in
section 4.1.
Example 6. Let A = (0, 1, 2) be a triangular fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ = 1. Consider the fuzzy
differential equation
⎧
⎨y (t) ⊕A (− 1 ) A y(t) = (1 + t)A + t 2 ,
1+t (1+t)
(24)
⎩y(0) = A + 1
on the interval [0, +∞).

I0 ⊂ I . By Lemma 4.3, the equation (24) becomes the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪ q (t) + 1+t
1

q (t) = 1 + t,
⎪
⎨
r (t) + 1+t
1

r(t) = (1+t)
t
2 + 1+t
2
q (t), (25)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩

q (0) = 1, r(0) = 1.
3+3t+3t 2 +t 3 2 +4t 3
From the system of equations (25), it follows that
q (t) = 3(1+t) ,
r(t) = 6+24t+21t
6(1+t) . Since
q (t) ≥ 0 and
2t (3+3t+t 2 ) 2 +t 3 2 +4t 3
q (t) =
3(1+t)2
≥ 0 on [0, +∞), we get I0 = I . Then y(t) = 3+3t+3t
3(1+t) A + 6+24t+21t
differentiable
6(1+t) is a
solution of Eq. (24) with the non-decreasing diameter on I = [0, +∞). Fig. 7 shows the representation functions and
the grayscale image of the differentiable solution y(t).
x ∗ = 1, by Lemma 4.3, the equation (24) becomes the following system of equations
19

q (t) and
q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (24) (b).
⎧
⎪
⎪ − q (t) + 1+t
1

q (t) = 1 + t,
⎪
⎨
r (t) − 1+t1
r(t) = (1+t)
t
2 + 2(1 + t), (26)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩
q (0) = 1, r(0) = 1.
2+8t+11t 2 +4t 3
By solving the system equations (26), we can obtain
q (t) = 1 − t 2 ,
r(t) = 2(1+t) . Moreover, the condition
2+8t+11t 2 +4t 3

q (t) ≥ 0 implies I1 = [0, 1]. Obviously, y(t) = (1 − t 2 )A + 2(1+t) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (26) with
the non-increasing diameter on [0, 1]. Since q (t) is decreasing on [0, 1] and q (1) = 0. Similar to the extension of the
solution mentioned in subsection 4.1, we can extend the solution y(t). Then, we construct the following system of
equations
⎧
⎪
⎪q (t) + 1+t
1

q (t) = 1 + t,
⎪
⎨
r (t) + 1+t
1

r(t) = (1+t)
t
2 + 1+t
2
q (t), (27)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩
q (1) = 0, r(1) = 254 .
−7+3t+3t 2 +t 3 26+24t+21t 2 +4t 3

From (27), it follows that
q (t) = 3(1+t) and
r(t) = 6(1+t) . It is easy to see that q (t) =
q (t) ≥ 0 and
2(5+3t+3t 2 +t 3 ) (1) = −2 and (1) = 2. Combining the solutions on
3(1+t)t 2
> 0 on [1, +∞). Moreover, we can infer that
q− q+
the intervals [0, 1] and [1, +∞). Now, we redefine
⎧ ⎧ 2 +4t 3
⎨1 − t 2 , t ∈ [0, 1], ⎨ 2+8t+11t
2(1+t) , t ∈ [0, 1],
q (t) = r(t) =
⎩ −7+3t+3t +t , t ∈ (1, +∞),
2 3 ⎩ 26+24t+21t 2 +4t 3 , t ∈ (1, +∞).
3(1+t) 6(1+t)
Then, we obtain that y(t) = q (t)A +r(t) is a continuous solution of Eq. (24) on I = [0, +∞), where the diameter of
the solution y(t) is decreasing on [0, 1] and the diameter is increasing on [1, +∞). Fig. 8 shows the representation
functions and the grayscale image of the continuous solution y(t) obtained by the extension.
4.3. The case of a(t) < 0 and b(t) ≥ 0
valued functions with a(t) < 0 and b(t) ≥ 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated fuzzy
q0 A +
r0 , if and only if
system of equations
20

q (t) and
q (t)A +
⎧
⎪
⎨−a(t) q (t) + b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) + b(t) r(t) = q (t)x ∗ ,
h(t) − 2a(t) (28)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) = q0 ,
r(t0 ) = r0 ,

if
⎧
⎪
⎨a(t) q (t) + b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) + b(t)
r(t) = h(t), (29)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
q0 ,
r(t0 ) =r0 ,
q (t) < 0 on I0 .
if
real-valued functions with a(t) < 0 and b(t) ≥ 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated
q0 A +
r0 ,
then
y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t), t ∈ I0 ,
where

t b(ν)
t

g (ν)
ν b(τ )

q (t) = exp q0 −
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
ν b(τ )
b(ν) h(ν) ∗

r(t) = exp − r0 +
dν − 2
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0
q0 A +
r0 ,
then
y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t), t ∈ I1 ,
where
21

q (t) and
q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (30) (b).

t
t
ν
b(ν)
g (ν) b(τ )

q (t) = exp − q0 +
dν exp dτ dν ,
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
ν b(τ )
b(ν) h(ν)

r(t) = exp − r0 +
dν exp dτ dν .
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t2
(1 − t) A y (t) ⊕A 2 A y(t) = tA + (1−t) 3,
(30)
y(2) = A
(i) Assume that y(t) = q (t)A + r(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (30) with the non-decreasing diameter on
I0 ⊂ I . By Lemma 4.5, the equation (30) turns into the system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪ q (t) + 2
(t − 1) q (t) = t,
⎪
⎨
t2
r (t) + 2
(1 − t) r(t) = (1−t) 3 − 2(1 − t) q (t), (31)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩

q (2) = 1, r(2) = 0.
2−3t 2 +2t 3 4−25t 2 +40t 3 −30t 4 +8t 5
By solving the system of equations (31), it follows that
q (t) = 6(1−t)2
,
r(t) = 15(t−1)3
. It is easy
2−3t+3t 2 −t 3
to verify that
q (t) ≥ 0 and q (t)
= 3(1−t)3
≥ 0 on [2, +∞). Then it yields I0 = I . Consequently, y(t) =
2−3t 2 +2t 3 4−25t 2 +40t 3 −30t 4 +8t 5
6(1−t)2
A+ 15(t−1)3
is a differentiable solution of Eq. (30) with the non-decreasing diameter on
I = [2, +∞). Fig. 9 shows the representation functions and the grayscale image of the differentiable solution y(t).
x ∗ = 1, by Lemma 4.5, the equation (30) changes into the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪(1 − t)q (t) + 2q (t) = t,
⎪
⎨
t2
r (t) + 2
(1 − t) r(t) = (1−t) 3, (32)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩

q (2) = 1, r(2) = 0.
22
q (t) = −2+4t−t r(t) = −32+160t−320t +310t −155t +31t

2 2 3 4 5
From the system of equations (26), it follows that 2 , 30(t−1)3
. Moreover,
√
q (t) ≥ 0 implies I1 = [2, 2 + 2]. Obviously, y(t) = −2+4t−t A + −32+160t−320t +310t −155t 4 +31t 5
2 2 3
the condition 3 is
2
√ 30(t−1)
a differentiable
√ solution√of Eq. (30) with the non-increasing diameter on [2, 2 + 2]. Since q (t) is decreasing on
[2, 2 + 2] and q (2 + 2) = 0, we can extend the solution y(t) by using the method presented in subsection 4.1.
Then, we construct the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪ (t − 1)q (t) + 2
q (t) = t,
⎪
⎨
t2
(1 − t)r (t) + 2
r(t) = (1−t) 3 − 2(1 − t)q (t), (33)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ √ √ √

q (2 + 2) = 0, r(2 + 2) = 2(25+13 15
2)
.
From the system of equations (33), we can infer that
√
−22 − 16 2 − 3t 2 + 2t 3

q (t) =
6(1 − t)2
and
√ √
−8(7 + 5 2) + 20(3 + 2 2)t − 25t 2 + 40t 3 − 30t 4 + 8t 5
r(t) = .
15(t − 1)3
√
2+3t−3t 2 +t 3
√
It is easy to check that q (t) ≥ 0 and q (t) = 22+16 3(t−1) 3 > 0 on [2 + 2, +∞). Moreover, we can infer that
√ √
(2 + 2) = − 2 and
√ √ √ √
(2 + 2) = 2. Combining the solutions on the intervals [2, 2 + 2] and [2 + 2, +∞).

q− q+
Here, let us redefine
⎧ √
⎨ −2+4t−t
2
2 , t ∈ [2, 2 + 2],

q (t) =
⎩ −22−16 2−3t 2 +2t 3 , t ∈ (2 + √2, +∞),
√
6(1−t)2
⎧ √
⎨ −32+160t−320t +310t3 −155t +31t , t ∈ [2, 2 + 2],
2 3 4 5
30(t−1)

r(t) = √ √
⎩ −8(7+5 2)+20(3+2 2)t−25t 2 +40t 3 −30t 4 +8t 5 , t ∈ (2 + √2, +∞).
15(t−1)3
Then, we obtain that y(t) = q (t)A +
r(t) is√a continuous solution of Eq. (30) on I = [2,
√ +∞), where the diameter
of the solution y(t) is decreasing on [2, 2 + 2] and the diameter is increasing on [2 + 2, +∞). Fig. 10 shows the
representation functions and the grayscale image of the continuous solution y(t) obtained by the extension.
4.4. The case of a(t) < 0 and b(t) ≤ 0
valued functions with a(t) < 0 and b(t) ≤ 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated fuzzy
q0 A + r0 , if and only if
system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨−a(t) q (t) − b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t) r (t) + b(t) r(t) = h(t) + 2g (t)x ∗ ,
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
q0 ,
r(t0 ) = r0 ,
if
⎧
⎪
⎨a(t) q (t) − b(t)q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) + b(t) q (t)x ∗ ,
r(t) = h(t) − 2b(t)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
q0 ,
r(t0 ) =r0 ,
q (t) < 0 on I0 .
if
23

q (t) and
q (t)A +
real-valued functions with a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≤ 0 on I . Assume that f : I → RF (A) is a continuous linearly correlated
q0 A +
r0 ,
then
y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t), t ∈ I0 ,
where

t
t
ν
b(ν)
g (ν) b(τ )

q (t) = exp − q0 −
dν exp dτ dν ,
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
b(τ )
ν
b(ν) g (ν)x ∗
h(ν) − 2

r(t) = exp − r0 +
dν exp dτ dν .
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0
q0 A +
r0 ,
then
y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t), t ∈ I1 ,
where

t b(ν)
t

g (ν)
ν b(τ )

q (t) = exp q0 +
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0

t
t
ν b(τ )
b(ν) h(ν) − 2 q (ν)x ∗
b(ν)

r(t) = exp − r0 +
dν exp dτ dν .
a(ν) a(ν) a(τ )
t0 t0 t0
24

(−2) A y (t) ⊕A (− 2t ) A y(t) = ln tA + t,
(34)
y(1) = A + 1
I0 ⊂ I . By Lemma 4.7, the equation (34) turns into the system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪ q (t) + 2t
2 q (t) = ln t,
⎪
⎨
−2 r (t) − 2t
r(t) = t + 2 ln t, (35)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩

q (1) = 1, r(1) = 1.
q (t) = 9−t +2t r(t) = 11+3t −2t −6t ln t

2 2 2 3 2
By solving the system of equations (35), we can obtain ln t
, . Furthermore,
8t 12t
q (t) = 8 1 − t 2 + 2 ln t . Setting
1 9
q (t) = 0, we know that the stable point of q (t) is t ∗ ≈ 1.959. Furthermore, it is
easy to check that q (t) < 0 on the subinterval [1, 1.959), which contradicts the condition of q (t) ≥ 0. Consequently,
the Eq. (34) has no solution with the non-decreasing diameter on I = [1, +∞).
x ∗ = 1, according to Lemma 4.7, the equation (34) changes into the system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎪ −2 q (t) + 2t
q (t) = ln t,
⎪
⎨
−2 r (t) − 2t
r(t) = t + 4t
q (t), (36)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩
q (1) = 1, r(1) = 1.
35−21t 2 −2t 3 −6t 2 ln t+6t 2 ln2 t
From the system of equations (36), it follows that
q (t) = 14 (4t − t ln2 t),
r(t) = . The stable
√ √ 12t
q (t) is t ∗ = e
point of 5−1 . q (t) = 14 (4 − 2 ln t − ln2 t) > 0 on
Moreover [1, e 5−1 ). Then, q (t) is increasing on
√
q (t) < 0. Thus, the Eq. (34) has no solution with the non-increasing
[1, e 5−1 ]. This contradicts the condition of
diameter on I = [1, +∞).
Remark 11. Example 8 shows that the solution of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations does not always exist
if A is a symmetric fuzzy number. In fact, the essential factor is that RF (A) is not a linear space when A is symmetric.
If the coefficient function a(t) is constant positive or negative and b(t) contains a finite number of single zeros, we
can obtain a continuous or differentiable solution of Eq. (1) by combining the aforementioned four cases.

y (t) ⊕A t A y(t) = |t|A + t,
(37)
y(−1) = A
on the interval [−1, 1].
I0 ⊂ [−1, 0]. By Lemma 4.3, the equation (37) turns into the system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨q (t) − tq (t) = −t,

r (t) + t
r(t) = t − 2t q (t), (38)
⎪
⎩

q (−1) = 1, r(−1) = 0.
2 √ 2
By solving the system of equations (38), we can obtain q (t) = 1,
r(t) = exp(− t2 )( e − exp( t2 )). Then, we know that
2 √ t2
y(t) = A + exp(− t2 )( e − exp( √ 2 )) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (37) with the constant diameter on [−1, 0].
Obviously, q (0) = 1, r(0) = e − 1. Taking into account the extension of the solutions with different monotonic
25

q (t) and
q (t)A +
diameters, we divide into two cases:

Case I(A): If y(t) is the solution with the non-decreasing diameter on [0, 1], then we construct the following system
of equations:
⎧
⎪
⎨q (t) + t
q (t) = t,
r (t) + t
r(t) = t, (39)
⎪
⎩ √

q (0) = 1, r(0) = e − 1.
2 √ 2
From (39), it follows that q (t) = 1,
r(t) = exp(− t2 )( e − 2 + exp( t2 )). Combining the solutions on the intervals
[−1, 0] and [0, 1]. Define
⎧ √
⎨exp(− t )( e − exp( t )), t ∈ [−1, 0],
2 2
2 2

q (t) = 1, r(t) =
⎩exp(− t 2 )(√e − 2 + exp( t 2 )), t ∈ (0, 1].
2 2
Since
q and r are differentiable on [−1, 1], y(t) =
q (t)A +
r(t) is a differentiable solution of Eq. (37) with the non-
decreasing diameter on [−1, 1].
Case I(B): If y(t) is the solution with the non-increasing diameter on [0, 1], then we construct the following system
of equations:
⎧
⎪
⎨− q (t) + t
q (t) = t,

r (t) + t r(t) = t − 2q (t), (40)
⎪
⎩ √

q (0) = 1, r(0) = e − 1.
By solving the system of equations (40), we get the same solutions as the system of equations (39).
(ii) Assume that y(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (37) with the non-increasing diameter on I1 ⊂ [−1, 0].
According to Lemma 4.3, the equation (37) changes into the system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨− q (t) − t
q (t) = −t,
r (t) + t
q (t) + t
r(t) = t − 2( q (t)) = −t, (41)
⎪
⎩

q (−1) = 1, r(−1) = 0.
2 √ 2
From the system of equations (41), we can infer that q (t) = 1,
r(t) = exp(− t2 )( e − exp( t2 )). This means that
the systems (38) and (41) have the same solutions on the interval I1 = [−1, 0]. Similar to the case (i), the extended
solution y(t) is coincident with the solution of the foregoing case.
Based on the above two cases, the equation (37) has one and only one solution, and this solution is both continuous
and differentiable on [−1, 1]. Fig. 11 shows the representation functions and the grayscale image of the continuous
solution y(t) obtained by the extension.
26
4.5. Other forms of equations
As we know, the space RF (A) cannot form a linear space when A is a symmetric fuzzy number. Thus, the solution
of the first-order linear fuzzy differential equation depends on the forms of the equation. Finally, we declare that the
method mentioned above can also be used to solve other forms of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations. Other
forms of first-order linear fuzzy differential equations are given as follows:

a(t) A y (t) = b(t) A y(t) ⊕A f (t),
(42)
y(t0 ) = y0 ,

b(t) A y(t) = a(t) A y (t) ⊕A f (t),
(43)
y(t0 ) = y0 ,
where f (t) is represented by the canonical form f (t) = g (t)A + h(t).
By considering the different cases satisfied by the coefficient functions a(t) and b(t) for Eq. (42), we can solve it
using the method similar to that of Eq. (1). Without loss of generality, we assume a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≤ 0 on the interval
I . Let A be a symmetric fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ and let y(t) = q (t)A +
r(t) be a differentiable
solution on the interval I0 ⊂ I with t0 ∈ I0 , y0 = q0 A + r0 . From Definition 4.1, we know that q (t) and
r(t) are
A , we can infer from Eq. (42) that
differentiable on I0 . By using the operator
A ([|
a(t) A q (t)|, A ([
rc (t)]≡A ) = b(t) A r (t)]≡A ) ⊕A
q (t), g (t),
A ([ h(t)]≡A ),
where

r (t),
q (t) ≥ 0,
rc (t) =
∗
2q (t)x + r (t),
q (t) < 0.
Equivalently, we get

A ([a(t)|
q (t)|, a(t) A [−b(t)
rc (t)]≡A ) = q (t)x ∗ +
q (t), 2b(t) r (t)]≡A ⊕ g (t),
A [ h(t)]≡A .
A is a bijection, it follows that
Since the operator
q (t)|, a(t)
[a(t)| rc (t)]≡A = [−b(t) q (t)x ∗ + b(t)
q (t), 2b(t) r (t)]≡A ⊕ g (t),
A [ h(t)]≡A ,
which yields the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨a(t)| q (t)| + b(t) q (t) = g (t),
rc (t) − b(t)
a(t) r(t) = q (t)x ∗ ,
h(t) + 2b(t) (44)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
r (t0 ) =
q0 , r0 .
According to the sign of q (t) on the interval I0 , the solution of Eq. (44) can be divided into the following two
cases:
q (t) ≥ 0 on I0 , then the Eq. (44) turns into the system of equations
Case (i): If
⎧
⎪
⎨a(t) q (t) + b(t) q (t) =
g (t),
a(t)
r (t) − b(t)
r(t) = h(t) + 2b(t)q (t)x ∗ , (45)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) = q0 ,
r (t0 ) =r0 .
q (t) < 0 on I0 , then the Eq. (44) changes into the system of equations
Case (ii): If
⎧
⎪
⎨−a(t) q (t) + b(t) q (t) = g (t),
a(t)
r (t) − b(t) r(t) = h(t) + 2 g (t)x ∗ , (46)
⎪
⎩
q (t0 ) =
r (t0 ) =
q0 , r0 .
Remark 12. For the cases where the coefficient functions a(t) and b(t) in Eq. (42) satisfy other conditions and
Equation (43), we can solve it by using a similar method as shown before.
27

q (t) and
q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (47)(b).

y (t) = (−2) A y(t),
(47)
y(0) = A + 1

(i) Assume that y(t) =
q (t)A +
I0 ⊂ [0, +∞). From the system of equations (45), the equation (47) turns into the system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨q (t) − 2
q (t) = 0,
r (t) + 2
r(t) = −2 q (t), (48)
⎪
⎩
q (0) = 1, r(0) = 1.
By solving the system of equations (48), we get r(t) = e−2t (2 − e4t ). It is easy to see that
q (t) = e2t , q (t) ≥ 0
and q (t) = 2e > 0 on [0, +∞). Then it yields I0 = [0, +∞). Consequently, y(t) = e2t A + e−2t (2 − e4t ) is a
2t
differentiable solution of Eq. (47) with the non-decreasing diameter on I = [0, +∞). Fig. 12 shows the representation
functions and the grayscale image of the differentiable solution y(t).
(ii) Assume that y(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (47) with the non-increasing diameter on I1 ⊂ I . By the
system of equations (46), the equation (47) changes into the following system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨− q (t) − 2
q (t) = 0,

r (t) + 2 r(t) = 0, (49)
⎪
⎩
q (0) = 1, r(0) = 1.
From the system of equations (49), it follows that r(t) = e−2t . Clearly, we know that
q (t) = q (t) =
q (t) ≥ 0 and
−2e −2t −2t
< 0 on [0, +∞). So we get I1 = [0, +∞). Consequently, y(t) = e A + e −2t is a differentiable solution of
Eq. (47) with the non-increasing diameter on [0, +∞). Fig. 13 shows the representation functions and the grayscale
image of the differentiable solution y(t).
Remark 13. In practical problems, we should avoid using the solution with the increasing diameter as much as possi-
ble to ensure the reliability of the results. If we regard the equation (47) as a decay model of radioactive material, then
the solution with the decreasing diameter solved from the system of equations (49) is consistent with the practical
situation.
28

q (t) and
q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (47) (b).
Table 1
Comparison with other derivatives.
Derivatives
Related H-derivative gH-derivative Fréchet-derivative LC-derivative
foundations
Spaces RF RF RF (A) RF (A)
Structure of the space Not linear Not linear A is non-symmetric, linear A is non-symmetric, linear;
A is symmetric, not linear
Differences H-difference gH-difference Difference in R2 LC-difference
Existence of the difference May not exist May not exist Always exist Always exist
4.6. Comparison with other derivatives
In this section, we briefly compare the LC-derivative with several other notions of derivative for fuzzy number-
valued functions. We also provide two examples where two different derivatives (LC-derivative and gH-derivative
respectively) are employed to solve first-order linear fuzzy differential.
Currently, the gH-derivative is the most widely used derivative for solving fuzzy differential equations. In essence,
gH-derivative can be regarded as an improvement of the H-derivative in RF . However, the Fréchet-derivative is a
very effective derivative for linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions when the basic fuzzy number A is
non-symmetric. The LC-derivative can be seen as an important supplement to the Fréchet-derivative in RF (A) . If A is
non-symmetric, the two types of differentiability are equivalent for linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions.
In order to ease the comparison, Table 1 shows a summary of the properties of the derivatives of fuzzy number-valued
functions and their related structures, which includes the specific space, the structure of the space, the type of the
difference, and the existence of the difference.
To solve fuzzy differential equations under the gH-derivative, it is usually necessary to distinguish different dif-
ferentiability, i.e., (i)-differentiable solution and (ii)-differentiable solution. Generally, the (i)-differentiable solution
is the solution with non-decreasing diameter and the (ii)-differentiable solution is the solution with non-increasing
diameter. In fact, a fuzzy differential equation may have both (i)- and (ii)-differentiable solutions. Of course, the
advantage of using gH-derivative is that a fuzzy differential equation can have a solution whose diameter is not nec-
essarily monotonic if the switching points are considered. However, the LC-derivative also has similar advantages,
with the difference staying in that the monotonicity of the diameter of the solution needs to be determined in ad-
vance, before solving the equation. As it is well known, the gH-derivative is usually expressed by the derivative of
the endpoint functions of the level sets, whereas the gH-differentiability is not equivalent to the differentiability of
its endpoint functions. On the other hand, LC-differentiability may be conveniently characterized by the left- and
right-differentiability of the representation functions. We also notice that the LC-derivative is easier to calculate than
the gH-derivative.
29

q (t) and
q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (50) (b).
Example 11. Let A = (−1, 0, 1) be a triangular fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ = 0. Consider the fuzzy

y (t) = 2t A y(t) ⊕A tA,
(50)
y(0) = A
Case 1: LC-differentiability.
I0 ⊂ [0, +∞). Similar to the system of equations (44), it follows from (42) that the equation (50) turns into the system
of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨q (t) − 2t
q (t) = t,
r (t) − 2t
r(t) = 0, (51)
⎪
⎩

q (0) = 1, r(0) = 0.
2
By solving the system of equations (51), we can obtain q (t) = 12 (3et − 1),
r(t) = 0. It is easy to see that
q (t) ≥ 0 and
q (t) = 3te > 0 on [0, +∞). Then it yields I0 = [0, +∞). Consequently, y(t) = 2 (3e − 1)A is a differentiable
t 2 1 t 2
solution of Eq. (50) with the non-decreasing diameter on I = [0, +∞). Fig. 14 shows the representation functions
and the grayscale image of the differentiable solution y(t).
(ii) Assume that y(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (50) with the non-increasing diameter on I1 ⊂ I . Similar
to the system of equations (46), it follows from (44) that the equation (50) changes into the following system of
equations
⎧
⎪
⎨− q (t) − 2t
q (t) = t,
r (t) + 2t
r(t) = 0, (52)
⎪
⎩

q (0) = 1, r(0) = 0.
q (t) = 12 (3e−t − 1),

2
From the system of equations (52), we get r(t) = 0. By calculation, the zero point of
q (t) is
√ √ √
t ∗ = ln 3. Meantime, we know that q (t) = −3te−t < 0 on [0, ln 3). This implies I1 = [0, ln 3].
2
q (t) ≥ 0 and
Therefore, y(t) = 12 (3e−t − 1)A is a differentiable solution of Eq. (50) with the non-increasing diameter on [0, 0.8).
2
Fig. 15 shows the representation functions and the grayscale image of the differentiable solution y(t).
Case 2: gH-differentiability.
Now, we consider the foregoing fuzzy differential equation under the gH-derivative. Correspondingly, the equation is
rewritten as follows:

y (t) = 2ty(t) + tA,
(53)
y(0) = A
30

q (t) and
q (t)A +
r(t) of Eq. (50) (b).
on the interval [0, +∞). Obviously, the equation (53) is actually the first equation given in Example 3.11 [16]. Fur-
2
thermore, the (i)-differentiable solution of Eq. (53) is y(t) = 12 (3et − 1)A on [0, +∞), and the (ii)-differentiable
√
solution of Eq. (53) is y(t) = 12 (3e−t − 1)A on [0, ln 3].
2
Combining the above two cases, the solution of Eq. (50) under the LC-derivative and the solution of Eq. (53) under
the gH-derivative are coincident.
Example 12. Let A = (−1, 0, 1) be a triangular fuzzy number with the symmetry point x ∗ = 0. Consider the fuzzy

y (t) ⊕A (−2) A y(t) = tA,
(54)
y(0) = A
Case 1: LC-differentiability.
I0 ⊂ [0, +∞). From Lemma 4.3, it follows that the equation (54) turns into the system of equations
⎧
⎪
⎨q (t) + 2
q (t) = t,
r (t) − 2
r(t) = 0, (55)
⎪
⎩

q (0) = 1, r(0) = 0.
q (t) = 12 (e−t + 1),

2
By solving the system of equations (55), we can obtain r(t) = 0. It is easy to verify that
q (t) ≥ 0
−t 2
q (t) = −te < 0 on (0, +∞). This implies that the equation (54) has no solution with non-decreasing diameter
and
on [0, +∞). (ii) Assume that y(t) = q (t)A +
r(t) is the differentiable solution of Eq. (54) with the non-increasing
diameter on I1 ⊂ [0, +∞). Similarly, it follows from Lemma 4.3 that the equation (54) changes into the system of
equations
⎧
⎪
⎨− q (t) + 2q (t) = t,
r (t) − 2
r(t) = 0, (56)
⎪
⎩

q (0) = 1, r(0) = 0.
2
By solving the system of equations (56), we can obtain
q (t) = 12 (et + 1),
r(t) = 0. It is easy to verify that
q (t) ≥ 0
and 2
q (t) = te > 0 on (0, +∞). This implies that the equation (54) has no solution with non-increasing diameter on
t
[0, +∞). From what has been discussed above, we conclude that the equation (54) has no solution on [0, +∞).
Case 2: gH-differentiability.
Now, we consider the foregoing fuzzy differential equation under the gH-derivative. Correspondingly, the equation
(54) is rewritten as follows:
31

y (t) − 2ty(t) = tA,
(57)
y(0) = A
on the interval [0, +∞). Obviously, the equation (57) is exactly the second equation given in Example 3.11 [16].
Therefore, we know that the equation (57) has neither the (i)-differentiable solution nor the (ii)-differentiable solution
on [0, +∞).
Combining the above two cases, we deduce that there are no solution of Eq. (54) under the LC-derivative and no
solution of Eq. (57) under the gH-derivative. To a certain extent, these two examples also illustrate the rationality of
solving fuzzy differential equations under the LC-derivative.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, we have solved the first-order linear fuzzy differential equation using the concept of LC-derivative in
the space of the linearly correlated fuzzy numbers RF (A) , and taking into account the possible symmetry of A, i.e. the
fact that when A is a non-symmetric fuzzy number, the space RF (A) is linear. In this case, a first-order linear fuzzy
differential equation can be equivalently expressed as a system of ordinary first-order linear differential equations
associated with the representation functions of the unknown variable. On the other hand, when A is a symmetric
fuzzy number, the space RF (A) is not linear. In this case, the solution of a first-order linear fuzzy differential equation
does depend on the representation of the equation. Moreover, the solution may not be unique, or may not even exist.
According to the relation between the LC-differentiability of a linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued function and
its representation functions, we have put forward the differentiable solution and the continuous solution of first-order
linear fuzzy differential equations. In general, according to the addition and the scalar multiplication in RF (A) , a
first-order linear fuzzy differential equation can be transformed into a corresponding system of ordinary first-order
linear differential equations, related to the canonical form of the solution. Using this method, we can usually obtain
a differentiable solution to the equation, and the diameter of this solution is nondecreasing or nonincreasing in an
appropriate interval. Furthermore, if the existence interval of the differentiable solution is surplus, using the extension
method mentioned in this paper, we can obtain a continuous solution whose diameter may be either increasing or
decreasing. Although we focused on solving Eq. (1) based on the conditions satisfied by the coefficient functions and
the monotonicity of the diameter of the solution, the method proposed in this paper can be applied to solve other
forms of equations. In the next study, our main concern will be the existence condition of the solution of the first-
order linear fuzzy differential equations when the basic fuzzy number is symmetric. At the same time, a topic worthy
of further study is the solution of higher-order fuzzy differential equations under the LC-derivative. Furthermore, in
Examples 11 and 12, the consistency of the solutions of the two equations under the LC-derivative and gH-derivative
implies that the relationship between the two types of derivatives is also a valuable research topic.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11701425). The author would
like to express his sincere gratitude to the editor-in-chief, the area editor and the anonymous reviewers for the helpful
and constructive suggestions, which are valuable in improving the quality of the present paper.
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33

First-Order Linear Fuzzy Differential Equations On The Space of Linearly Correlated Fuzzy Numbers

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First-Order Linear Fuzzy Differential Equations On The Space of Linearly Correlated Fuzzy Numbers

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First-order linear fuzzy differential equations on the space of linearly

E-mail address: shenyonghong2008@hotmail.com.

2.1. The space of fuzzy numbers

(i) A is normal, i.e., there exists x0 ∈ R such that A(x0 ) = 1;

[B ⊕ C]α = [B]α + [C]α , [λ · B]α = λ[B]α ,

[B]α + [C]α = {x + y| x ∈ [B]α , y ∈ [C]α }, λ[B]α = {λx| x ∈ [B]α }.

2.2. The space of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers

[A (q, r)]α = {qx + r| x ∈ [A]α } = q[A]α + r,

Then, the equality B ⊕A C = D implies

(ii) Using the representation of B, C, D in (i), we can obtain

Therefore, it follows that

2.3. The metric in the space of linearly correlated fuzzy numbers

dA (B, C) = B A CA

B −1 (B)∞

2.4. The LC-derivative of linearly correlated fuzzy number-valued functions

lim q(t) = q0 , lim q(t) = r0 .

Remark 3. From Lemma 2.3, the differentiability of  q and 

y(t) = q(t)A + r(t), t ∈ I,

Then, the fuzzy solution of Eq. (5) is

Therefore, we can obtain

Now, we consider the fuzzy differential equation

4.1. The case of a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≥ 0

Fig. 3. The representation functions 

Fig. 4. The representation functions 

[0, +∞). Fig. 3 shows the representation functions q (t) and 

Fig. 5. The representation functions 

on the interval I = [1, +∞).

Fig. 6. The representation functions 

4.2. The case of a(t) > 0 and b(t) ≤ 0

on the interval [0, +∞).

Fig. 7. The representation functions 

−7+3t+3t 2 +t 3 26+24t+21t 2 +4t 3

4.3. The case of a(t) < 0 and b(t) ≥ 0

Fig. 8. The representation functions 

q (t) ≥ 0 on I0 , or satisfy the following system of equations

Fig. 9. The representation functions 

q (t) = −2+4t−t r(t) = −32+160t−320t +310t −155t +31t

4.4. The case of a(t) < 0 and b(t) ≤ 0

Fig. 10. The representation functions 

q (t) = 9−t +2t r(t) = 11+3t −2t −6t ln t

Fig. 11. The representation functions 

diameters, we divide into two cases:

4.5. Other forms of equations

Fig. 12. The representation functions 

on the interval [0, +∞).

Fig. 13. The representation functions 

4.6. Comparison with other derivatives

Fig. 14. The representation functions 

q (t) = 12 (3e−t − 1), 

Fig. 15. The representation functions 

q (t) = 12 (e−t + 1), 

Declaration of competing interest

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[A (q, r)]α = {qx + r| x ∈ [A]α } = q[A]α + r,

dA (B, C) = B A CA

B −1 (B)∞

Remark 3. From Lemma 2.3, the differentiability of q and

Fig. 3. The representation functions

Fig. 4. The representation functions

[0, +∞). Fig. 3 shows the representation functions q (t) and

Fig. 5. The representation functions

Fig. 6. The representation functions

Fig. 7. The representation functions

Fig. 8. The representation functions

Fig. 9. The representation functions

Fig. 10. The representation functions

Fig. 11. The representation functions

Fig. 12. The representation functions

Fig. 13. The representation functions

Fig. 14. The representation functions

q (t) = 12 (3e−t − 1),

Fig. 15. The representation functions

q (t) = 12 (e−t + 1),