A New Meta Heuristic Optimization Algorithm Based On The String Theory Paradigm From Physics

This book focuses on the fields of nature-inspired algorithms, optimization problems and fuzzy logic. In this book, a new metaheuristic based on String Theory from Physics is proposed. It is important to mention that we have proposed the new algorithm to generate new potential solutions in optimization problems in order to find new ways that could improve the results in solving these problems. We are presenting the results for the proposed method in different cases of study. The first case, is optimization of traditional benchmark mathematical functions. The second case, is the optimization of benchmark functions of the CEC 2015 Competition and we are also presenting results of the CEC 2017 Competition on Constrained Real-Parameter Optimization that are problems that contain the presence of constraints that alter the shape of the search space making them more difficult to solve. Finally, in the third case, we are presenting the optimization of a fuzzy inference system, specifically for finding the optimal design of a fuzzy controller for an autonomous mobile robot. It is important to mention that in all study cases we are presenting statistical tests in or-der to validate the performance of proposed method. In summary, we believe that this book will be of great interest to a wide audience, ranging from engineering and science graduate students, to researchers and professors in computational intelligence, metaheuristics, optimization, robotics and control.

Meta-Heuristics: Advances and Trends in Local Search Paradigms for Optimizations comprises a carefully refereed selection of extended versions of the best papers presented at the Second Meta-Heuristics Conference (MIC 97). The selected articles describe the most recent developments in theory and applications of meta-heuristics, heuristics for specific problems, and comparative case studies. The book is divided into six parts, grouped mainly by the techniques considered. The extensive first part with twelve papers covers tabu search and its application to a great variety of well-known combinatorial optimization problems (including the resource-constrained project scheduling problem and vehicle routing problems). In the second part we find one paper where tabu search and simulated annealing are investigated comparatively and two papers which consider hybrid methods combining tabu search with genetic algorithms. The third part has four papers on genetic and evolutionary algorithms. Part four arrives at a new paradigm within meta-heuristics. The fifth part studies the behavior of parallel local search algorithms mainly from a tabu search perspective. The final part examines a great variety of additional meta-heuristics topics, including neural networks and variable neighbourhood search as well as guided local search. Furthermore, the integration of meta-heuristics with the branch-and-bound paradigm is investigated.

Multi-Objective Optimization in Theory and Practice is a simplified two-part approach to multi-objective optimization (MOO) problems. This second part focuses on the use of metaheuristic algorithms in more challenging practical cases. The book includes ten chapters that cover several advanced MOO techniques. These include the determination of Pareto-optimal sets of solutions, metaheuristic algorithms, genetic search algorithms and evolution strategies, decomposition algorithms, hybridization of different metaheuristics, and many-objective (more than three objectives) optimization and parallel computation. The final section of the book presents information about the design and types of fifty test problems for which the Pareto-optimal front is approximated. For each of them, the package NSGA-II is used to approximate the Pareto-optimal front. It is an essential handbook for students and teachers involved in advanced optimization courses in engineering, information science and mathematics degree programs.

This book offer a thorough overview of the most popular and researched meta-heuristic optimization techniques and nature inspired algorithms. Their wide applicability makes them a hot research topic and an efficient tool for the solution of complex optimization problems in various field of sciences, engineering and in numerous industries.

Meta-heuristics have developed dramatically since their inception in the early 1980s. They have had widespread success in attacking a variety of practical and difficult combinatorial optimization problems. These families of approaches include, but are not limited to greedy random adaptive search procedures, genetic algorithms, problem-space search, neural networks, simulated annealing, tabu search, threshold algorithms, and their hybrids. They incorporate concepts based on biological evolution, intelligent problem solving, mathematical and physical sciences, nervous systems, and statistical mechanics. Since the 1980s, a great deal of effort has been invested in the field of combinatorial optimization theory in which heuristic algorithms have become an important area of research and applications. This volume is drawn from the first conference on Meta-Heuristics and contains 41 papers on the state-of-the-art in heuristic theory and applications. The book treats the following meta-heuristics and applications: Genetic Algorithms, Simulated Annealing, Tabu Search, Networks & Graphs, Scheduling and Control, TSP, and Vehicle Routing Problems. It represents research from the fields of Operations Research, Management Science, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science.

Solving complex optimization problems with parallel metaheuristics Parallel Metaheuristics brings together an international group of experts in parallelism and metaheuristics to provide a much-needed synthesis of these two fields. Readers discover how metaheuristic techniques can provide useful and practical solutions for a wide range of problems and application domains, with an emphasis on the fields of telecommunications and bioinformatics. This volume fills a long-existing gap, allowing researchers and practitioners to develop efficient metaheuristic algorithms to find solutions. The book is divided into three parts: * Part One: Introduction to Metaheuristics and Parallelism, including an Introduction to Metaheuristic Techniques, Measuring the Performance of Parallel Metaheuristics, New Technologies in Parallelism, and a head-to-head discussion on Metaheuristics and Parallelism * Part Two: Parallel Metaheuristic Models, including Parallel Genetic Algorithms, Parallel Genetic Programming, Parallel Evolution Strategies, Parallel Ant Colony Algorithms, Parallel Estimation of Distribution Algorithms, Parallel Scatter Search, Parallel Variable Neighborhood Search, Parallel Simulated Annealing, Parallel Tabu Search, Parallel GRASP, Parallel Hybrid Metaheuristics, Parallel Multi-Objective Optimization, and Parallel Heterogeneous Metaheuristics * Part Three: Theory and Applications, including Theory of Parallel Genetic Algorithms, Parallel Metaheuristics Applications, Parallel Metaheuristics in Telecommunications, and a final chapter on Bioinformatics and Parallel Metaheuristics Each self-contained chapter begins with clear overviews and introductions that bring the reader up to speed, describes basic techniques, and ends with a reference list for further study. Packed with numerous tables and figures to illustrate the complex theory and processes, this comprehensive volume also includes numerous practical real-world optimization problems and their solutions. This is essential reading for students and researchers in computer science, mathematics, and engineering who deal with parallelism, metaheuristics, and optimization in general.

This book is an updated effort in summarizing the trending topics and new hot research lines in solving dynamic problems using metaheuristics. An analysis of the present state in solving complex problems quickly draws a clear picture: problems that change in time, having noise and uncertainties in their definition are becoming very important. The tools to face these problems are still to be built, since existing techniques are either slow or inefficient in tracking the many global optima that those problems are presenting to the solver technique. Thus, this book is devoted to include several of the most important advances in solving dynamic problems. Metaheuristics are the more popular tools to this end, and then we can find in the book how to best use genetic algorithms, particle swarm, ant colonies, immune systems, variable neighborhood search, and many other bioinspired techniques. Also, neural network solutions are considered in this book. Both, theory and practice have been addressed in the chapters of the book. Mathematical background and methodological tools in solving this new class of problems and applications are included. From the applications point of view, not just academic benchmarks are dealt with, but also real world applications in logistics and bioinformatics are discussed here. The book then covers theory and practice, as well as discrete versus continuous dynamic optimization, in the aim of creating a fresh and comprehensive volume. This book is targeted to either beginners and experienced practitioners in dynamic optimization, since we took care of devising the chapters in a way that a wide audience could profit from its contents. We hope to offer a single source for up-to-date information in dynamic optimization, an inspiring and attractive new research domain that appeared in these last years and is here to stay.

Metaheuristics have been a very active research topic for more than two decades. During this time many new metaheuristic strategies have been devised, they have been experimentally tested and improved on challenging benchmark problems, and they have proven to be important tools for tackling optimization tasks in a large number of practical applications. In other words, metaheuristics are nowadays established as one of the main search paradigms for tackling computationally hard problems. Still, there are a large number of research challenges in the area of metaheuristics. These challenges range from more fundamental questions on theoretical properties and performance guarantees, empirical algorithm analysis, the effective configuration of metaheuristic algorithms, approaches to combine metaheuristics with other algorithmic techniques, towards extending the available techniques to tackle ever more challenging problems. This edited volume grew out of the contributions presented at the ninth Metaheuristics International Conference that was held in Udine, Italy, 25-28 July 2011. The conference comprised 117 presentations of peer-reviewed contributions and 3 invited talks, and it has been attended by 169 delegates. The chapters that are collected in this book exemplify contributions to several of the research directions outlined above.