Nature-Inspired Optimization Algorithms

4

Simulated Annealing

Abstract

Simulated annealing (SA) is a trajectory-based, random search technique for global optimization. It mimics the annealing process in materials processing when a metal cools and freezes into a crystalline state with minimum energy and larger crystal sizes so as to reduce the defects in metallic structures. The annealing process involves the careful control of temperature and its cooling schedule. SA has been successfully applied in many areas.

Keywords

Annealing schedule

Simulated annealing

Markov chain

Optimization

One of the earliest and yet most popular metaheuristic algorithms is simulated annealing (SA), which is a trajectory-based, random search technique for global optimization. It mimics the annealing ...