Abstract
These days, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches play a vital role in making decisions considering multiple criteria. Among these approaches, the picture fuzzy soft set model is emerging as a powerful mathematical tool for handling various kinds of uncertainties in complex real-life MCDM situations because it is a combination of two efficient mathematical tools, namely, picture fuzzy sets and soft sets. However, the picture fuzzy soft set model is deficient; that is, it fails to tackle information symmetrically in a bipolar soft environment. To overcome this difficulty, in this paper, a model named picture fuzzy bipolar soft sets (PRFBSSs, for short) is proposed, which is a natural hybridization of two models, namely, picture fuzzy sets and bipolar soft sets. An example discussing the selection of students for a scholarship is added to illustrate the initiated model. Some novel properties of PRFBSSs such as sub-set, super-set, equality, complement, relative null and absolute PRFBSSs, extended intersection and union, and restricted intersection and union are investigated. Moreover, two fundamental operations of PRFBSSs, namely, the AND and OR operations, are studied. Thereafter, some new results (De Morgan's law, commutativity, associativity, and distributivity) related to these proposed notions are investigated and explained through corresponding numerical examples. An algorithm is developed to deal with uncertain information in the PRFBSS environment. To show the efficacy and applicability of the initiated technique, a descriptive numerical example regarding the selection of the best graphic designer is explored under PRFBSSs. In the end, concerning both qualitative and quantitative perspectives, a detailed comparative analysis of the initiated model with certain existing models is provided.