The paper introduces the concept of simplified neutrosophic sets (SNSs), which are a subclass of neutrosophic sets, and defines the operational laws of SNSs. Then, we propose some aggregation operators, including a simplified neutrosophic weighted arithmetic average operator and a simplified neutrosophic weighted geometric average operator. Based on the two aggregation operators and cosine similarity measure for SNSs, a multicriteria decision-making method is established in which the evaluation values of alternatives with respective to criteria are represented by the form of SNSs. The ranking order of alternatives is performed through the cosine similarity measure between an alternative and the ideal alternative and the best one(s) can be determined as well. Finally, a numerical example shows the application of the proposed method.

In pattern recognition and medical diagnosis, similarity measure is an important mathematical tool. To overcome some disadvantages of existing cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophic sets (SNSs) in vector space, this paper proposed improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs based on cosine function, including single valued neutrosophic cosine similarity measures and interval neutrosophic cosine similarity measures. Then, weighted cosine similarity measures of SNSs were introduced by taking into account the importance of each element. Further, a medical diagnosis method using the improved cosine similarity measures was proposed to solve medical diagnosis problems with simplified neutrosophic information. The improved cosine similarity measures between SNSs were introduced based on cosine function. Then, we compared the improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs with existing cosine similarity measures of SNSs by numerical examples to demonstrate their effectiveness and rationality for overcoming some shortcomings of existing cosine similarity measures of SNSs in some cases. In the medical diagnosis method, we can find a proper diagnosis by the cosine similarity measures between the symptoms and considered diseases which are represented by SNSs. Then, the medical diagnosis method based on the improved cosine similarity measures was applied to two medical diagnosis problems to show the applications and effectiveness of the proposed method. Two numerical examples all demonstrated that the improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs based on the cosine function can overcome the shortcomings of the existing cosine similarity measures between two vectors in some cases. By two medical diagnoses problems, the medical diagnoses using various similarity measures of SNSs indicated the identical diagnosis results and demonstrated the effectiveness and rationality of the diagnosis method proposed in this paper. The improved cosine measures of SNSs based on cosine function can overcome some drawbacks of existing cosine similarity measures of SNSs in vector space, and then their diagnosis method is very suitable for handling the medical diagnosis problems with simplified neutrosophic information and demonstrates the effectiveness and rationality of medical diagnoses.

In rock mechanics, the study of shear strength on the structural surface is crucial to evaluating the stability of engineering rock mass. In order to determine the shear strength, a key parameter is the joint roughness coefficient (JRC). To express and analyze JRC values, Ye et al. have proposed JRC neutrosophic numbers (JRC-NNs) and fitting functions of JRC-NNs, which are obtained by the classical statistics and curve fitting in the current method. Although the JRC-NNs and JRC-NN functions contain much more information (partial determinate and partial indeterminate information) than the crisp JRC values and functions in classical methods, the JRC functions and the JRC-NN functions may also lose some useful information in the fitting process and result in the function distortion of JRC values. Sometimes, some complex fitting functions may also result in the difficulty of their expressions and analyses in actual applications. To solve these issues, we can combine the neutrosophic numbers with neutrosophic statistics to realize the neutrosophic statistical analysis of JRC-NNs for easily analyzing the characteristics (scale effect and anisotropy) of JRC values. In this study, by means of the neutrosophic average values and standard deviations of JRC-NNs, rather than fitting functions, we directly analyze the scale effect and anisotropy characteristics of JRC values based on an actual case. The analysis results of the case demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed neutrosophic statistical analysis of JRC-NNs and can overcome the insufficiencies of the classical statistics and fitting functions. The main advantages of this study are that the proposed neutrosophic statistical analysis method not only avoids information loss but also shows its simplicity and effectiveness in the characteristic analysis of JRC.

In nature, the mechanical properties of geological bodies are very complex, and their various mechanical parameters are vague, incomplete, imprecise, and indeterminate. However, we cannot express them by the crisp values in classical probability and statistics. In geotechnical engineering, we need to try our best to approximate exact values in indeterminate environments because determining the joint roughness coefficient (JRC) effectively is a key parameter in the shear strength between rock joint surfaces. In this original study, we first propose neutrosophic interval probability (NIP) and define the confidence degree based on the cosine measure between NIP and the ideal NIP. Then, we propose a new neutrosophic interval statistical number (NISN) by combining the neutrosophic number with the confidence degree to express indeterminate statistical information. Finally, we apply NISNs to express JRC under indeterminate (imprecise, incomplete, and uncertain, etc.) environments. By an actual case, the results demonstrate that NISNs are suitable and effective for JRC expressions and have the objective advantage.

Based on the combination of trapezoidal fuzzy numbers and a single-valued neutrosophic set, this paper proposes a trapezoidal neutrosophic set, some operational rules, score and accuracy functions for trapezoidal neutrosophic numbers. Then, a trapezoidal neutrosophic number weighted arithmetic averaging (TNNWAA) operator and a trapezoidal neutrosophic number weighted geometric averaging (TNNWGA) operator are proposed to aggregate the trapezoidal neutrosophic information, and their properties are investigated. Furthermore, a multiple attribute decision-making method based on the TNNWAA and TNNWGA operators and the score and accuracy functions of a trapezoidal neutrosophic number is established to deal with the multiple attribute decision-making problems in which the evaluation values of alternatives on the attributes are represented by the form of trapezoidal neutrosophic numbers. Finally, an illustrative example about software selection is given to demonstrate the application and effectiveness of the developed method.

The Dombi operations of T-norm and T-conorm introduced by Dombi can have the advantage of good flexibility with the operational parameter. In existing studies, however, the Dombi operations have so far not yet been used for neutrosophic sets. To propose new aggregation operators for neutrosophic sets by the extension of the Dombi operations, this paper firstly presents the Dombi operations of single-valued neutrosophic numbers (SVNNs) based on the operations of the Dombi T-norm and T-conorm, and then proposes the single-valued neutrosophic Dombi weighted arithmetic average (SVNDWAA) operator and the single-valued neutrosophic Dombi weighted geometric average (SVNDWGA) operator to deal with the aggregation of SVNNs and investigates their properties. Because the SVNDWAA and SVNDWGA operators have the advantage of good flexibility with the operational parameter, we develop a multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) method based on the SVNWAA or SVNWGA operator under a SVNN environment. Finally, an illustrative example about the selection problem of investment alternatives is given to demonstrate the application and feasibility of the developed approach.