On similarity in fuzzy description logics

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. This paper is a contribution to the study of similarity relations between objects represented as attribute-value pairs in Fuzzy Description Logics. For this purpose we use concrete domains in the fuzzy description logic IALCEF(D) associated either with a left-continuous or with a finite t-norm. We propose to expand this fuzzy description logic by adding a Similarity Box (SBox) including axioms expressing properties of fuzzy equalities. We also define a global similarity between objects from similarities between the values of each object attribute (local similarities) and we prove that the global similarity defined using a t-norm inherits the usual properties of the local similarities (reflexivity, symmetry or transitivity). We also prove a result relative to global similarities expressing that, in the context of the logic MTL, similar objects have similar properties, being these properties expressed by predicate formulas evaluated in these objects.