Residual operators of uninorms

 Uninorms are an important generalization of t-norms and t-conorms, having a neutral element lying anywhere in the unit interval. A uninorm shows a typical block structure and is built from a t-norm, a t-conorm and a mean operator. Two important classes of uninorms are characterized, corresponding to the use of the minimum operator (the class Umin) and maximum operator (the class Umax) as mean operator. The characterization of representable uninorms, i.e. uninorms with an additive generator, and of left-continuous and right-continuous idempotent uninorms is recalled. Two residual operators are associated with a uninorm and it is characterized when they yield an implicator and coimplicator. The block structure of the residual implicator of members of the class Umin and of the residual coimplicator of members of the class Umax is investigated. Explicit expressions for the residual implicator and residual coimplicator of representable uninorms and of certain left-continuous or right-continuous idempotent uninorms are given. Additional properties such as contrapositivity are discussed.