A correlation coefficient of belief functions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new correlation coefficient for belief functions in Dempster-Shafer theory, addressing shortcomings of existing measures and effectively quantifying evidence conflict.

Contribution

A novel correlation coefficient with improved properties is proposed for measuring similarity and conflict among belief functions in evidence theory.

Findings

The new coefficient has desirable mathematical properties.

Numerical examples show improved conflict measurement.

Comparison demonstrates its effectiveness over existing measures.

Abstract

How to manage conflict is still an open issue in Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. The correlation coefficient can be used to measure the similarity of evidence in Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. However, existing correlation coefficients of belief functions have some shortcomings. In this paper, a new correlation coefficient is proposed with many desirable properties. One of its applications is to measure the conflict degree among belief functions. Some numerical examples and comparisons demonstrate the effectiveness of the correlation coefficient.