Related papers: Optimal Mutation Rates for the $(1+\lambda)$ EA on…
Understanding how evolutionary algorithms perform on constrained problems has gained increasing attention in recent years. In this paper, we study how evolutionary algorithms optimize constrained versions of the classical LeadingOnes…
In this paper, we consider a fitness-level model of a non-elitist mutation-only evolutionary algorithm (EA) with tournament selection. The model provides upper and lower bounds for the expected proportion of the individuals with fitness…
When a problem instance is perturbed by a small modification, one would hope to find a good solution for the new instance by building on a known good solution for the previous one. Via a rigorous mathematical analysis, we show that…
Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs) are stochastic heuristics that search for optimal solutions by learning and sampling from probabilistic models. Despite their popularity in real-world applications, there is little rigorous…
We consider the expected runtime of non-elitist evolutionary algorithms (EAs), when they are applied to a family of fitness functions with a plateau of second-best fitness in a Hamming ball of radius r around a unique global optimum. On one…
Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs) are one branch of Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) in the broad sense that they evolve a probabilistic model instead of a population. Many existing algorithms fall into this category. Analogous to…
The one-fifth success rule is one of the best-known and most widely accepted techniques to control the parameters of evolutionary algorithms. While it is often applied in the literal sense, a common interpretation sees the one-fifth success…
The expected running time of the classical (1+1) EA on the OneMax benchmark function has recently been determined by Hwang et al. (2018) up to additive errors of $O((\log n)/n)$. The same approach proposed there also leads to a full…
We study how Reinforcement Learning can be employed to optimally control parameters in evolutionary algorithms. We control the mutation probability of a (1+1) evolutionary algorithm on the OneMax function. This problem is modeled as a…
Inspired by Fisher's geometric approach to study beneficial mutations, we analyse probabilities of beneficial mutation and crossover recombination of strings in a general Hamming space with arbitrary finite alphabet. Mutations and…
Population-based evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been widely applied to solve various optimization problems. The question of how the performance of a population-based EA depends on the population size arises naturally. The performance of…
For genetic algorithms using a bit-string representation of length~$n$, the general recommendation is to take $1/n$ as mutation rate. In this work, we discuss whether this is really justified for multimodal functions. Taking jump functions…
Mutation has traditionally been regarded as an important operator in evolutionary algorithms. In particular, there have been many experimental studies which showed the effectiveness of adapting mutation rates for various static optimization…
Jump functions are the {most-studied} non-unimodal benchmark in the theory of randomized search heuristics, in particular, evolutionary algorithms (EAs). They have significantly improved our understanding of how EAs escape from local…
While most theoretical run time analyses of discrete randomized search heuristics focused on finite search spaces, we consider the search space $\mathbb{Z}^n$. This is a further generalization of the search space of multi-valued decision…
The performance of deep neural networks, such as Deep Belief Networks formed by Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs), strongly depends on their training, which is the process of adjusting their parameters. This process can be posed as an…
Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are a sort of nature-inspired metaheuristics, which have wide applications in various practical optimization problems. In these problems, objective evaluations are usually inaccurate, because noise is almost…
We propose a new method based on discrete Fourier analysis to analyze the time evolutionary algorithms spend on plateaus. This immediately gives a concise proof of the classic estimate of the expected runtime of the $(1+1)$ evolutionary…
Evolutionary neural architecture search (ENAS) employs evolutionary algorithms to find high-performing neural architectures automatically, and has achieved great success. However, compared to the empirical success, its rigorous theoretical…
Theory of evolutionary computation (EC) aims at providing mathematically founded statements about the performance of evolutionary algorithms (EAs). The predominant topic in this research domain is runtime analysis, which studies the time it…