Theory and Principled Methods for the Design of Metaheuristics
Metaheuristics, and evolutionary algorithms in particular, are known to provide
efficient, adaptable solutions for many real-world problems, but the often informal way in
which they are defined and applied has led to misconceptions, and even successful
applications are sometimes the outcome of trial and error. Ideally, theoretical studies
should explain when and why metaheuristics work, but the challenge is huge: mathematical
analysis requires significant effort even for simple scenarios and real-life problems are
usually quite complex. In this book the editors establish a bridge between theory and
practice, presenting principled methods that incorporate problem knowledge in evolutionary
algorithms and other metaheuristics. The book consists of 11 chapters dealing with the
following topics: theoretical results that show what is not possible, an assessment of
unsuccessful lines of empirical research; methods for rigorously defining the appropriate
scope of problems while acknowledging the compromise between the class of problems to
which a search algorithm is applied and its overall expected performance; the top-down
principled design of search algorithms, in particular showing that it is possible to
design algorithms that are provably good for some rigorously defined classes; and,
finally, principled practice, that is reasoned and systematic approaches to setting up
experiments, metaheuristic adaptation to specific problems, and setting parameters. With
contributions by some of the leading researchers in this domain, this book will be of
significant value to scientists, practitioners, and graduate students in the areas of
evolutionary computing, metaheuristics, and computational intelligence.
No Free Lunch Theorems: Limitations and Perspectives of Metaheuristics.
- Convergence Rates of Evolutionary Algorithms and Parallel Evolutionary Algorithms.-
Rugged and Elementary Landscapes.
- Single-Funnel and Multi-funnel Landscapes and Subthreshold Seeking Behavior.
- Black-Box Complexity for Bounding the Performance of Randomized Search Heuristics.
- Designing an Optimal Search Algorithm with Respect to Prior Information.
- The Bayesian Search Game.- Principled Design of Continuous Stochastic Search: From
Theory to Practice.
- Parsimony Pressure Made Easy: Solving the Problem of Bloat in GP.
- Experimental Analysis of Optimization Algorithms: Tuning and Beyond.- Formal Search
Algorithms + Problem Characterizations = Executable Search Strategies.
284 pages, Hardcover