This edited book reports on recent developments in the theory of evolutionary computation, or more generally the domain of randomized search heuristics. It starts with two chapters on mathematical methods that are often used in the analysis of randomized search heuristics, followed by three chapters on how to measure the complexity of a search heuristic: black-box complexity, a counterpart of classical complexity theory in black-box optimization; parameterized complexity, aimed at a more fine-grained view of the difficulty of problems; and the fixed-budget perspective, which answers the question of how good a solution will be after investing a certain computational budget. The book then describes theoretical results on three important questions in evolutionary computation: how to profit from changing the parameters during the run of an algorithm; how evolutionary algorithms cope with dynamically changing or stochastic environments; and how population diversity influences performance. Finally, the book looks at three algorithm classes that have only recently become the focus of theoretical work: estimation-of-distribution algorithms; artificial immune systems; and genetic programming. Throughout the book the contributing authors try to develop an understanding for how these methods work, and why they are so successful in many applications. The book will be useful for students and researchers in theoretical computer science and evolutionary computing.

A clear and comprehensive introduction to the field of evolutionary computation that takes an integrated approach. Evolutionary computation, the use of evolutionary systems as computational processes for solving complex problems, is a tool used by computer scientists and engineers who want to harness the power of evolution to build useful new artifacts, by biologists interested in developing and testing better models of natural evolutionary systems, and by artificial life scientists for designing and implementing new artificial evolutionary worlds. In this clear and comprehensive introduction to the field, Kenneth De Jong presents an integrated view of the state of the art in evolutionary computation. Although other books have described such particular areas of the field as genetic algorithms, genetic programming, evolution strategies, and evolutionary programming, Evolutionary Computation is noteworthy for considering these systems as specific instances of a more general class of evolutionary algorithms. This useful overview of a fragmented field is suitable for classroom use or as a reference for computer scientists and engineers.

This book is the first in the field to provide extensive, entry level tutorials to the theory of Evolutionary Computing, covering the main approaches to understanding the dynamics of Evolutionary Algorithms. It combines this with recent, previously unpublished research papers based on the material of the tutorials. The outcome is a book which is self-contained to a large degree, attractive both to graduate students and researchers from other fields who want to get acquainted with the theory of Evolutionary Computing, and to active researchers in the field who can use this book as a reference and a source of recent results.

The first complete overview of evolutionary computing, the collective name for a range of problem-solving techniques based on principles of biological evolution, such as natural selection and genetic inheritance. The text is aimed directly at lecturers and graduate and undergraduate students. It is also meant for those who wish to apply evolutionary computing to a particular problem or within a given application area. The book contains quick-reference information on the current state-of-the-art in a wide range of related topics, so it is of interest not just to evolutionary computing specialists but to researchers working in other fields.

This book provides a collection of fourty articles containing new material on both theoretical aspects of Evolutionary Computing (EC), and demonstrating the usefulness/success of it for various kinds of large-scale real world problems. Around 23 articles deal with various theoretical aspects of EC and 17 articles demonstrate the success of EC methodologies. These articles are written by leading experts of the field from different countries all over the world.

Concentrates on developing intuition about evolutionary computation and problem solving skills and tool sets. Lots of applications and test problems, including a biotechnology chapter.

Frontiers of Evolutionary Computation brings together eleven contributions by international leading researchers discussing what significant issues still remain unresolved in the field of Evolutionary Computation (Ee. They explore such topics as the role of building blocks, the balancing of exploration with exploitation, the modeling of EC algorithms, the connection with optimization theory and the role of EC as a meta-heuristic method, to name a few. The articles feature a mixture of informal discussion interspersed with formal statements, thus providing the reader an opportunity to observe a wide range of EC problems from the investigative perspective of world-renowned researchers. These prominent researchers include: Heinz M]hlenbein, Kenneth De Jong, Carlos Cotta and Pablo Moscato, Lee Altenberg, Gary A. Kochenberger, Fred Glover, Bahram Alidaee and Cesar Rego, William G. Macready, Christopher R. Stephens and Riccardo Poli, Lothar M. Schmitt, John R. Koza, Matthew J. Street and Martin A. Keane, Vivek Balaraman, Wolfgang Banzhaf and Julian Miller.