Related papers: Fixed-Parameter Tractability of the (1+1) Evolutio…
This paper extends the runtime analysis of non-elitist evolutionary algorithms (EAs) with fitness-proportionate selection from the simple OneMax function to the linear functions. Not only does our analysis cover a larger class of fitness…
The Makespan Scheduling problem is an extensively studied NP-hard problem, and its simplest version looks for an allocation approach for a set of jobs with deterministic processing times to two identical machines such that the makespan is…
Extending previous analyses on function classes like linear functions, we analyze how the simple (1+1) evolutionary algorithm optimizes pseudo-Boolean functions that are strictly monotone. Contrary to what one would expect, not all of these…
We present a simple randomized algorithm that can efficiently maintain a $(\Delta+1)$ coloring as the graph undergoes edge insertion and deletion updates, where $\Delta$ denotes an upper bound on the maximum degree. A key advantage is the…
We study the problem of recovering a planted matching in randomly weighted complete bipartite graphs $K_{n,n}$. For some unknown perfect matching $M^*$, the weight of an edge is drawn from one distribution $P$ if $e \in M^*$ and another…
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…
Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are population-based metaheuristics, originally inspired by aspects of natural evolution. Modern varieties incorporate a broad mixture of search mechanisms, and tend to blend inspiration from nature with…
The Gene-pool Optimal Mixing Evolutionary Algorithm (GOMEA) is a state of the art evolutionary algorithm that leverages linkage learning to efficiently exploit problem structure. By identifying and preserving important building blocks…
We present a simple deterministic distributed algorithm that computes a $(\Delta+1)$-vertex coloring in $O(\log^2 \Delta \cdot \log n)$ rounds. The algorithm can be implemented with $O(\log n)$-bit messages. The algorithm can also be…
Evolution strategies (ESs) are zeroth-order stochastic black-box optimization heuristics invariant to monotonic transformations of the objective function. They evolve a multivariate normal distribution, from which candidate solutions are…
We describe a new algorithm for vertex cover with runtime $O^*(1.25284^k)$, where $k$ is the size of the desired solution and $O^*$ hides polynomial factors in the input size. This improves over previous runtime of $O^*(1.2738^k)$ due to…
Vertex deletion problems ask whether it is possible to delete at most $k$ vertices from a graph so that the resulting graph belongs to a specified graph class. Over the past years, the parameterized complexity of vertex deletion to a…
We consider extension variants of the classical graph problems Vertex Cover and Independent Set. Given a graph $G=(V,E)$ and a vertex set $U \subseteq V$, it is asked if there exists a minimal vertex cover (resp.\ maximal independent set)…
Most evolutionary algorithms have multiple parameters and their values drastically affect the performance. Due to the often complicated interplay of the parameters, setting these values right for a particular problem (parameter tuning) is a…
Recent works showed that simple success-based rules for self-adjusting parameters in evolutionary algorithms (EAs) can match or outperform the best fixed parameters on discrete problems. Non-elitism in a (1,$\lambda$) EA combined with a…
To gain a better theoretical understanding of how evolutionary algorithms (EAs) cope with plateaus of constant fitness, we propose the $n$-dimensional Plateau$_k$ function as natural benchmark and analyze how different variants of the $(1 +…
Recent work has pinned down the existentially optimal size bounds for vertex fault-tolerant spanners: for any positive integer $k$, every $n$-node graph has a $(2k-1)$-spanner on $O(f^{1-1/k} n^{1+1/k})$ edges resilient to $f$ vertex…
Parameterized runtime analysis seeks to understand the influence of problem structure on algorithmic runtime. In this paper, we contribute to the theoretical understanding of evolutionary algorithms and carry out a parameterized analysis of…
The dynamic problem of enclosing an expanding fire can be modelled by a discrete variant in a grid graph. While the fire expands to all neighbouring cells in any time step, the fire fighter is allowed to block $c$ cells in the average…
Many problems are NP-hard and, unless P = NP, do not admit polynomial-time exact algorithms. The fastest known exact algorithms exactly usually take time exponential in the input size. Much research effort has gone into obtaining faster…