1 Introduction

In 1965, Zadeh [1] introduced the concept of fuzzy sets. Then many authors gave the important contribution to development of the theory of fuzzy sets and applications. George and Veeramani [2, 3] gave the concept of a fuzzy metric space and defined a Hausdorff topology on this fuzzy metric space, which have very important applications in quantum particle physics, particularly, in connection with both string and E-infinity theory.

Bhaskar and Lakshmikantham [4], Lakshmikantham and Ćirić [5] discussed the mixed monotone mappings and gave some coupled fixed point theorems, which can be used to discuss the existence and uniqueness of solution for a periodic boundary value problem. Sedghi et al. [6] gave a coupled fixed point theorem for contractions in fuzzy metric spaces, and Jin-xuan Fang [7] gave some common fixed point theorems for compatible and weakly compatible ϕ-contractions mappings in Menger probabilistic metric spaces. Xin-Qi Hu [8] proved a common fixed point theorem for mappings under φ-contractive conditions in fuzzy metric spaces. Many authors [926] proved fixed point theorems in (intuitionistic) fuzzy metric spaces or probabilistic metric spaces.

In this paper, we give a new coupled fixed point theorem under weaker conditions than in [8] and give an example, which shows that the result is a genuine generalization of the corresponding result in [8].

2 Preliminaries

First, we give some definitions.

Definition 2.1 (see [2])

A binary operation :[0,1]×[0,1][0,1] is a continuous t-norm if ∗ satisfies the following conditions:

  1. (1)

    ∗ is commutative and associative,

  2. (2)

    ∗ is continuous,

  3. (3)

    a1=a for all a[0,1],

  4. (4)

    abcd whenever ac and bd for all a,b,c,d[0,1].

Definition 2.2 (see [27])

Let sup 0 < t < 1 Δ(t,t)=1. A t-norm Δ is said to be of H-type if the family of functions { Δ m ( t ) } m = 1 is equicontinuous at t=1, where

Δ 1 (t)=tΔt, Δ m + 1 (t)=tΔ ( Δ m ( t ) ) ,m=1,2,,t[0,1].
(2.1)

The t-norm Δ M =min is an example of t-norm of H-type, but there are some other t-norms Δ of H-type [27].

Obviously, Δ is a t-norm of H-type if and only if for any λ(0,1), there exists δ(λ)(0,1) such that Δ m (t)>1λ for all mN, when t>1δ.

Definition 2.3 (see [2])

A 3-tuple (X,M,) is said to be a fuzzy metric space if X is an arbitrary nonempty set, ∗ is a continuous t-norm and M is a fuzzy set on X 2 ×(0,+) satisfying the following conditions for each x,y,zX and t,s>0,

(FM-1) M(x,y,t)>0,

(FM-2) M(x,y,t)=1 if and only if x=y,

(FM-3) M(x,y,t)=M(y,x,t),

(FM-4) M(x,y,t)M(y,z,s)M(x,z,t+s),

(FM-5) M(x,y,):(0,)[0,1] is continuous.

We shall consider a fuzzy metric space (X,M,), which satisfies the following condition:

lim t + M(x,y,t)=1,x,yX.
(2.2)

Let (X,M,) be a fuzzy metric space. For t>0, the open ball B(x,r,t) with a center xX and a radius 0<r<1 is defined by

B(x,r,t)= { y X : M ( x , y , t ) > 1 r } .
(2.3)

A subset AX is called open if for each xA, there exist t>0 and 0<r<1 such that B(x,r,t)A. Let τ denote the family of all open subsets of X. Then τ is called the topology on X, induced by the fuzzy metric M. This topology is Hausdorff and first countable.

Example 2.4 Let (X,d) be a metric space. Define t-norm ab=ab or ab=min{a,b} and for all x,yX and t>0, M(x,y,t)= t t + d ( x , y ) . Then (X,M,) is a fuzzy metric space.

Definition 2.5 (see [2])

Let (X,M,) be a fuzzy metric space. Then

  1. (1)

    a sequence { x n } in X is said to be convergent to x (denoted by lim n x n =x) if

    lim n M( x n ,x,t)=1

    for all t>0.

  2. (2)

    A sequence { x n } in X is said to be a Cauchy sequence if for any ε>0, there exists n 0 N, such that

    M( x n , x m ,t)>1ε

    for all t>0 and n,m n 0 .

  3. (3)

    A fuzzy metric space (X,M,) is said to be complete if and only if every Cauchy sequence in X is convergent.

Remark 2.6 (see [9])

Let (X,M,) be a fuzzy metric space. Then

  1. (1)

    for all x,yX, M(x,y,) is non-decreasing;

  2. (2)

    if x n x, y n y, t n t, then

    lim n M( x n , y n , t n )=M(x,y,t);
  3. (3)

    if M(x,y,t)>1r for x, y in X, t>0, 0<r<1, then we can find a t 0 , 0< t 0 <t such that M(x,y, t 0 )>1r;

  4. (4)

    for any r 1 > r 2 , we can find a r 3 such that r 1 r 3 r 2 , and for any r 4 , we can find a r 5 such that r 5 r 5 r 4 ( r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 (0,1)).

Define Φ={ϕ: R + R + }, where R + =[0,+) and each ϕΦ satisfies the following conditions:

(ϕ-1) ϕ is non-decreasing,

(ϕ-2) ϕ is upper semi-continuous from the right,

(ϕ-3) n = 0 ϕ n (t)<+ for all t>0, where ϕ n + 1 (t)=ϕ( ϕ n (t)), nN.

It is easy to prove that if ϕΦ, then ϕ(t)<t for all t>0.

Lemma 2.7 (see [7])

Let (X,M,) be a fuzzy metric space, whereis a continuous t-norm of H-type. If there exists ϕΦ such that

M ( x , y , ϕ ( t ) ) M(x,y,t)
(2.4)

for all t>0, then x=y.

Definition 2.8 (see [4])

An element (x,y)X×X is called a coupled fixed point of the mapping F:X×XX if

F(x,y)=x,F(y,x)=y.
(2.5)

Definition 2.9 (see [5])

An element (x,y)X×X is called a coupled coincidence point of the mappings F:X×XX and g:XX if

F(x,y)=g(x),F(y,x)=g(y).
(2.6)

Definition 2.10 (see [5])

An element (x,y)X×X is called a common coupled fixed point of the mappings F:X×XX and g:XX if

x=F(x,y)=g(x),y=F(y,x)=g(y).
(2.7)

Definition 2.11 (see [5])

An element xX is called a common fixed point of the mappings F:X×XX and g:XX if

x=g(x)=F(x,x).
(2.8)

Definition 2.12 (see [8])

The mappings F:X×XX and g:XX are said to be compatible if

lim n M ( g F ( x n , y n ) , F ( g ( x n ) , g ( y n ) ) , t ) =1
(2.9)

and

lim n M ( g F ( y n , x n ) , F ( g ( y n ) , g ( x n ) ) , t ) =1
(2.10)

for all t>0 whenever { x n } and { y n } are sequences in X, such that

lim n F( x n , y n )= lim n g( x n )=x, lim n F( y n , x n )= lim n g( y n )=y,
(2.11)

for all x,yX are satisfied.

Definition 2.13 (see [20])

The mappings F:X×XX and g:XX are called weakly compatible mappings if F(x,y)=g(x), F(y,x)=g(y) implies that gF(x,y)=F(gx,gy), gF(y,x)=F(gy,gx) for all x,yX.

Remark 2.14 It is easy to prove that if F and g are compatible, then they are weakly compatible, but the converse need not be true. See the example in the next section.

3 Main results

For simplicity, denote

for all nN.

Xin-Qi Hu [8] proved the following result.

Theorem 3.1 (see [8])

Let (X,M,) be a complete FM-space, whereis a continuous t-norm of H-type satisfying (2.2). Let F:X×XX and g:XX be two mappings, and there exists ϕΦ such that

M ( F ( x , y ) , F ( u , v ) , ϕ ( t ) ) M ( g ( x ) , g ( u ) , t ) M ( g ( y ) , g ( v ) , t )
(3.1)

for all x,y,u,vX, t>0.

Suppose that F(X×X)g(X), g is continuous, F and g are compatible. Then there exist x,yX such that x=g(x)=F(x,x); that is, F and g have a unique common fixed point in X.

Now we give our main result.

Theorem 3.2 Let (X,M,) be a FM-space, whereis a continuous t-norm of H-type satisfying (2.2). Let F:X×XX and g:XX be two weakly compatible mappings, and there exists ϕΦ satisfying (3.1).

Suppose that F(X×X)g(X) and F(X×X) or g(X) is complete. Then F and g have a unique common fixed point in X.

Proof Let x 0 , y 0 X be two arbitrary points in X. Since F(X×X)g(X), we can choose x 1 , y 1 X such that g( x 1 )=F( x 0 , y 0 ) and g( y 1 )=F( y 0 , x 0 ). Continuing this process, we can construct two sequences { x n } and { y n } in X such that

g( x n + 1 )=F( x n , y n ),g( y n + 1 )=F( y n , x n ),for all n0.
(3.2)

The proof is divided into 4 steps.

Step 1: We shall prove that {g x n } and {g y n } are Cauchy sequences.

Since ∗ is a t-norm of H-type, for any λ>0, there exists an μ>0 such that

for all kN.

Since M(x,y,) is continuous and lim t + M(x,y,t)=1 for all x,yX, there exists t 0 >0 such that

M(g x 0 ,g x 1 , t 0 )1μ,M(g y 0 ,g y 1 , t 0 )1μ.
(3.3)

On the other hand, since ϕΦ, by condition (ϕ-3), we have n = 1 ϕ n ( t 0 )<. Then for any t>0, there exists n 0 N such that

t> k = n 0 ϕ k ( t 0 ).
(3.4)

From condition (3.1), we have

M ( g x 1 , g x 2 , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) = M ( F ( x 0 , y 0 ) , F ( x 1 , y 1 ) , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M ( g x 0 , g x 1 , t 0 ) M ( g y 0 , g y 1 , t 0 ) , M ( g y 1 , g y 2 , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) = M ( F ( y 0 , x 0 ) , F ( y 1 , x 1 ) , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M ( g y 0 , g y 1 , t 0 ) M ( g x 0 , g x 1 , t 0 ) .

Similarly, we have

M ( g x 2 , g x 3 , ϕ 2 ( t 0 ) ) = M ( F ( x 1 , y 1 ) , F ( x 2 , y 2 ) , ϕ 2 ( t 0 ) ) M ( g x 1 , g x 2 , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M ( g y 1 , g y 2 , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) [ M ( g x 0 , g x 1 , t 0 ) ] 2 [ M ( g y 0 , g y 1 , t 0 ) ] 2 , M ( g y 2 , g y 3 , ϕ 2 ( t 0 ) ) = M ( F ( y 1 , x 1 ) , F ( y 2 , x 2 ) , ϕ 2 ( t 0 ) ) [ M ( g y 0 , g y 1 , t 0 ) ] 2 [ M ( g x 0 , g x 1 , t 0 ) ] 2 .

From the inequalities above and by induction, it is easy to prove that

M ( g x n , g x n + 1 , ϕ n ( t 0 ) ) [ M ( g x 0 , g x 1 , t 0 ) ] 2 n 1 [ M ( g y 0 , g y 1 , t 0 ) ] 2 n 1 , M ( g y n , g y n + 1 , ϕ n ( t 0 ) ) [ M ( g y 0 , g y 1 , t 0 ) ] 2 n 1 [ M ( g x 0 , g x 1 , t 0 ) ] 2 n 1 .

So, from (3.3) and (3.4), for m>n n 0 , we have

which implies that

M(g x n ,g x m ,t)>1λ
(3.5)

for all m,nN with m>n n 0 and t>0. So {g( x n )} is a Cauchy sequence.

Similarly, we can prove that {g( y n )} is also a Cauchy sequence.

Step 2: Now, we prove that g and F have a coupled coincidence point.

Without loss of generality, we can assume that g(X) is complete, then there exist x,yg(X), and exist a,bX such that

lim n g ( x n ) = lim n F ( x n , y n ) = g ( a ) = x , lim n g ( y n ) = lim n F ( y n , x n ) = g ( b ) = y .
(3.6)

From (3.1), we get

M ( F ( x n , y n ) , F ( a , b ) , ϕ ( t ) ) M ( g x n , g ( a ) , t ) M ( g y n , g ( b ) , t ) .

Since M is continuous, taking limit as n, we have

M ( g ( a ) , F ( a , b ) , ϕ ( t ) ) =1,

which implies that F(a,b)=g(a)=x.

Similarly, we can show that F(b,a)=g(b)=y.

Since F and g are weakly compatible, we get that gF(a,b)=F(g(a),g(b)) and gF(b,a)=F(g(b),g(a)), which implies that g(x)=F(x,y) and g(y)=F(y,x).

Step 3: We prove that g(x)=y and g(y)=x.

Since ∗ is a t-norm of H-type, for any λ>0, there exists an μ>0 such that

for all kN.

Since M(x,y,) is continuous and lim t + M(x,y,t)=1 for all x,yX, there exists t 0 >0 such that M(gx,y, t 0 )1μ and M(gy,x, t 0 )1μ.

On the other hand, since ϕΦ, by condition (ϕ-3), we have n = 1 ϕ n ( t 0 )<. Thus, for any t>0, there exists n 0 N such that t> k = n 0 ϕ k ( t 0 ). Since

M ( g x , g y n + 1 , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) = M ( F ( x , y ) , F ( y n , x n ) , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M ( g x , g y n , t 0 ) M ( g y , g x n , t 0 ) ,

letting n, we get

M ( g x , y , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M(gx,y, t 0 )M(gy,x, t 0 ).
(3.7)

Similarly, we can get

M ( g y , x , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M(gx,y, t 0 )M(gy,x, t 0 ).
(3.8)

From (3.7) and (3.8), we have

M ( g x , y , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M ( g y , x , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) [ M ( g x , y , t 0 ) ] 2 [ M ( g y , x , t 0 ) ] 2 .

From this inequality, we can get

M ( g x , y , ϕ n ( t 0 ) ) M ( g y , x , ϕ n ( t 0 ) ) [ M ( g x , y , ϕ n 1 ( t 0 ) ) ] 2 [ M ( g y , x , ϕ n 1 ( t 0 ) ) ] 2 [ M ( g x , y , t 0 ) ] 2 n [ M ( g y , x , t 0 ) ] 2 n

for all nN. Since t> k = n 0 ϕ k ( t 0 ), then, we have

Therefore, for any λ>0, we have

M(gx,y,t)M(gy,x,t)1λ
(3.9)

for all t>0. Hence conclude that gx=y and gy=x.

Step 4: Now, we prove that x=y.

Since ∗ is a t-norm of H-type, for any λ>0, there exists an μ>0 such that

for all kN.

Since M(x,y,) is continuous and lim t + M(x,y,t)=1, there exists t 0 >0 such that M(x,y, t 0 )1μ.

On the other hand, since ϕΦ, by condition (ϕ-3), we have n = 1 ϕ n ( t 0 )<. Then, for any t>0, there exists n 0 N such that t> k = n 0 ϕ k ( t 0 ).

From (3.1), we have

M ( g x n + 1 , g y n + 1 , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) = M ( F ( x n , y n ) , F ( y n , x n ) , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M ( g x n , g y n , t 0 ) M ( g y n , g x n , t 0 ) .

Letting n yields

M ( x , y , ϕ ( t 0 ) ) M(x,y, t 0 )M(y,x, t 0 ).

Thus, we have

which implies that x=y.

Thus, we proved that F and g have a common fixed point in X.

The uniqueness of the fixed point can be easily proved in the same way as above. This completes the proof of Theorem 3.2. □

Taking g=I (the identity mapping) in Theorem 3.2, we get the following consequence.

Corollary 3.3 Let (X,M,) be a FM-space, whereis a continuous t-norm of H-type satisfying (2.2). Let F:X×XX, and there exists ϕΦ such that

M ( F ( x , y ) , F ( u , v ) , ϕ ( t ) ) M(x,u,t)M(y,v,t)
(3.10)

for all x,y,u,vX, t>0. F(X) is complete.

Then there exist xX such that x=F(x,x); that is, F admits a unique fixed point in X.

Remark 3.4 Comparing Theorem 3.2 with Theorem 3.1 in [8], we can see that Theorem 3.2 is a genuine generalization of Theorem 3.2.

  1. (1)

    We only need the completeness of g(X) or F(X×X).

  2. (2)

    The continuity of g is relaxed.

  3. (3)

    The concept of compatible has been replaced by weakly compatible.

Remark 3.5 The Example 3 in [8] is wrong, since the t-norm ab=ab is not the t-norm of H-type.

Next, we give an example to support Theorem 3.2.

Example 3.6 Let X={0,1, 1 2 , 1 3 ,, 1 n ,}, =min, M(x,y,t)= t | x y | + t , for all x,yX, t>0. Then (X,M,) is a fuzzy metric space.

Let ϕ(t)= t 2 . Let g:XX and F:X×XX be defined as

g(x)={ 0 , x = 0 , 1 , x = 1 2 n + 1 , 1 2 n + 1 , x = 1 2 n , F(x,y)={ 1 ( 2 n + 1 ) 4 , ( x , y ) = ( 1 2 n , 1 2 n ) , 0 , others .

Let x n = y n = 1 2 n . We have g x n = 1 2 n + 1 0, F( x n , y n )= 1 ( 2 n + 1 ) 4 0, but

M ( F ( g x n , g y n ) , g F ( x n , y n ) , t ) =M(0,1,t)0,

so g and F are not compatible. From F(x,y)=g(x), F(y,x)=g(y), we can get (x,y)=(0,0), and we have gF(0,0)=F(g0,g0), which implies that F and g are weakly compatible.

The following result is easy to verify

t X + t min { t Y + t , t Z + t } Xmax{Y,Z},X,Y,Z0,t>0.

By the definition of M and ϕ and the result above, we can get that inequality (3.1)

M ( F ( x , y ) , F ( u , v ) , ϕ ( t ) ) M ( g ( x ) , g ( u ) , t ) M ( g ( y ) , g ( v ) , t )

is equivalent to the following

2 | F ( x , y ) F ( u , v ) | max { | g ( x ) g ( u ) | , | g ( y ) g ( v ) | } .
(3.11)

Now, we verify inequality (3.11). Let A={ 1 2 n ,nN}, B=XA. By the symmetry and without loss of generality, (x,y), (u,v) have 6 possibilities.

Case 1: (x,y)B×B, (u,v)B×B. It is obvious that (3.11) holds.

Case 2: (x,y)B×B, (u,v)B×A. It is obvious that (3.11) holds.

Case 3: (x,y)B×B, (u,v)A×A. If uv, (3.11) holds. If u=v, let u=v= 1 2 n , then

2 | F ( x , y ) F ( u , v ) | = 2 ( 2 n + 1 ) 4 ,max { | g ( x ) g ( u ) | , | g ( y ) g ( v ) | } = 2 n 2 n + 1 ,

which implies that (3.11) holds.

Case 4: (x,y)B×A, (u,v)B×A. It is obvious that (3.11) holds.

Case 5: (x,y)B×A, (u,v)A×A. If uv, (3.11) holds. If u=v, let xB, y= 1 2 j , u=v= 1 2 n , then

2 | F ( x , y ) F ( u , v ) | = 2 ( 2 n + 1 ) 4 , max { | g ( x ) g ( u ) | , | g ( y ) g ( v ) | } = max { 1 2 n + 1 , | 1 2 j + 1 1 2 n + 1 | } ,

or

max { | g ( x ) g ( u ) | , | g ( y ) g ( v ) | } =max { 2 n 2 n + 1 , | 1 2 j + 1 1 2 n + 1 | } ,

(3.11) holds.

Case 6: (x,y)A×A, (u,v)A×A.

If xy, uv, (3.11) holds.

If xy, u=v, let x= 1 2 i , y= 1 2 j , ij, u=v= 1 2 n . Then

2 | F ( x , y ) F ( u , v ) | = 2 ( 2 n + 1 ) 4 , max { | g ( x ) g ( u ) | , | g ( y ) g ( v ) | } = max { | 1 2 i + 1 1 2 n + 1 | , | 1 2 j + 1 1 2 n + 1 | } ,

(3.11) holds.

If x=y, u=v, let x=y= 1 2 i , u=v= 1 2 n . Then

2 | F ( x , y ) F ( u , v ) | = 2 | 1 ( 2 i + 1 ) 4 1 ( 2 n + 1 ) 4 | , max { | g ( x ) g ( u ) | , | g ( y ) g ( v ) | } = | 1 2 i + 1 1 2 n + 1 | ,

(3.11) holds.

Then all the conditions in Theorem 3.2 are satisfied, and 0 is the unique common fixed point of g and F.