Foundations of Genetic Algorithms 2001 (FOGA 6)

Niches in NK-Landscapes

Keith E. Mathias [e-mail]; Larry J. Eshelman [e-mail]; J. David Schaffer [e-mail]    Philips Research 345 Scarborough Road Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510 [phone]/6491/6168

Abstract

Introduced by Kauffman in 1989, NK-landscapes have been the focus of numerous theoretical and empirical studies in the field of evolutionary computation. Despite all that has been learned from these studies, there are still many open questions concerning NK-landscapes. Most of these studies have been performed using very small problems and have neglected to benchmark the performances of genetic algorithms (GA) with those of hill-climbers, leaving us to wonder if a GA would be the best tool ...