1.2 Genetic and Evolutionary Algorithms

回顾1.1

• Randomised algorithms
• Optimisation and local search algorithms
• Stochastic Local Search Algorithms

1 How evolution works in nature?

• evolution: heritable characteristics + change in it
• change: mutations, crossover
• driving force: natural selection, survival of the fittest

2 Evolutionary Algorithms

Description

• a subset of meta heuristic algorithm, inspired by biological evolution
• EA includes Genetic Algorithms, Evolutionary Programming, Evolution Strategies, Differential Evolution
• It’s essentially a kind of stochastic local search optimisation algorithm
• distinct characteristic of EAs:
  • population based: it would generate, matin and optimism a population of candidate solutions

Building blocks of EAs

• each solution is called an individual
• fitness (objective) function to evaluate solutions
• variation operators: mutation and crossover
• selection and reproduction: process of survival of the fittest

Balance of exploration and exploitation

• process of finding the best
• process of not converge so fast, something about the search space

persudo code

3 Genetic Algorithm

Different EAs for optimisation

• Genetic algorithm
  • Representation: strings of numbers, traditionally binary
  • Variation operators: crossover (recombination), mutation
• Evolution strategy
  • Representation: vectors of real numbers
  • Variation operators: mutation (self-adaptive mutation)

Genetic Algorrithm

• Genotype = encoded solution
  • chromosoe = binary string
  • gene = bit
  • allele = 0/1
  • each individual is given by a chromosome (assumption).
  • 如果我们encode our problem with 1 and 0, 可以以一位为单位、或者多位。
• Phenotype = decoded solution

Representation

• Definition: representation is a way to represent (encode) solutions
• 重点
  • solutions x is called phenotypes
  • fitness (objective) function f(x)
  • the representations of solutions is called genotypes
  • Selection时需要用到fitness value
• choices
  • Binary representation
    • encoding function: mapping phenotypes (solutions) to bit strings
    • decoding function: mapping genotypes (bit strings) to phenotypes
  • Real number representation
  • Random key representation
  • Permutation representation (suitable for TSP)
• Phenotype and Genotype
  • phenotype space can be anything
  • Genotype contains bit strings of length L
    

Decoding

• encode real number in to computer
  把上下界限这一段分为n份，s_i定义在哪半边(left or right)
• then decode
  
  
  固定一个长度为12的string，表示三个数，每个数用4个位置表示。
  比如第一个，S_1=1101，按照计算方法K_1=1+5+8=13，x_1=-5+13*(10/15)=3.667

Operators

• Mutation
  • flip each bit with a probability p_m (mutation rate)
  • range: [1/L,1/2]
• Crossover
  • Randomly select two parents with probability p_c for crossover
  • range: [0, 1]
  • Type
    • 1-point crossover
    • n-point crossover
    • uniform crossover