Abstract
In this paper the optimal parameter setting of Genetic Algorithms (GAs) is investigated. Particular attention has been paid to the dependence of the mutation probability P M upon two parameters, the dimension of the configuration space l and the population size M. Assuming strict conditions on both the problem to be optimized and the GA, P M converges to 0 as the population size M or the dimension of the configuration space l converges to infinity. For direct application a heuristic comprising these results is presented. The parameter settings obtained by applying this heuristic are in accordance with those which have been obtained earlier by experiment.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
K. De Jong. Analysis of the Behavior of a Class of Genetic Adaptive Systems. PhD. Diss., Univ. of Michigan, 1975
M. Nowack; P. Schuster. Error Thresholds of Replication in Finite Populations Mutations Frequencies and the Onset of Muller's Ratchet. J. Theor. Biol., Vol. 137, pages 375–395, 1989
P. Schuster. Effects of Finite Population Size and Other Stochastic Phenomena in Molecular Evolution. Complex Systems — Operational Approaches in Neurobiology, Physics, and Computers, Springer, Heidelberg, 1985
T.C. Fogarty. Varying the probability of mutation in the Genetic Algorithm. J.D. Schaffer, Proc. 3rd Int'l Conf. Genetic Algorithms & Appl., Arlington, VA, pages 104–109, 1989
L. Booker. Improving Search in Genetic Algorithms. L. Davis, Genetic Algorithms and Simulated Annealing, Pitman, London, 1987
J.J. Greffenstette. Optimisation of Control Parameters for Genetic Algorithms. IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics, Vol. SMC-16, No. 1, pages 122–128, 1986
J.D. Schaffer; R.A. Caruna; L.J. Eshelman; R. Das. A Study of Control Parameters Affecting Online Performance of Genetic Algorithms for Function Optimization. J.D. Schaffer, Proc. 3rd Int'l Conf. Genetic Algorithms & Appl., Arlington, VA, pages 51–60, 1989
D. Goldberg. Sizing Populations for Serial and Parallel Genetic Algorithms. J.D. Schaffer, Proc. 3rd Int'l Conf. Genetic Algorithms & Appl., Arlington, VA, pages 70–79, 1989
H. Ros. Some Results on Boolean Concept Learning by Genetic Algorithms. J.D. Schaffer, Proc. 3rd Int'l Conf. Genetic Algorithms & Appl., Arlington, VA, pages 28–33, 1989
J. Holland. Adaption in Natural and Artificial Systems. Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press, 1975
D. Goldberg. Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization & Machine Learning. Addison Wesley, Reading, MA, 1989
K.L. Chung. Markov Chains With Stationary Transition Probabilities. Springer, Berlin, 1967
J.F. Crow; M. Kimura. An Introduction to Population Genetics Theory. Harper & Row, New York, NY, 1970
J. Hesser; R. Männer; O. Stucky. Optimization of Steiner Trees using Genetic Algorithms. J.D. Schaffer, Proc. 3rd Int'l Conf. Genetic Algorithms & Appl., Arlington, VA, pages 231–236, 1989
G. Syswerda. Uniform Crossover in Genetic Algorithms. J.D. Schaffer, Proc. 3rd Int'l Conf. Genetic Algorithms & Appl., Arlington, VA, pages 2–9, 1989
C.L. Bridges; D. Goldberg. An Analysis of Reproduction and Crossover in a Binary—Coded Genetic Algorithm. J.D. Schaffer, Proc. 3rd Int'l Conf. Genetic Algorithms & Appl., Arlington, VA, pages 28–33, 1989
J. Hesser; R. Männer. An Alternative Genetic Algorithm. In these proceedings
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hesser, J., Männer, R. (1991). Towards an optimal mutation probability for genetic algorithms. In: Schwefel, HP., Männer, R. (eds) Parallel Problem Solving from Nature. PPSN 1990. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 496. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0029727
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0029727
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-54148-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-70652-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive