554 research outputs found
Multi-layer local optima networks for the analysis of advanced local search-based algorithms
A Local Optima Network (LON) is a graph model that compresses the fitness
landscape of a particular combinatorial optimization problem based on a
specific neighborhood operator and a local search algorithm. Determining which
and how landscape features affect the effectiveness of search algorithms is
relevant for both predicting their performance and improving the design
process. This paper proposes the concept of multi-layer LONs as well as a
methodology to explore these models aiming at extracting metrics for fitness
landscape analysis. Constructing such models, extracting and analyzing their
metrics are the preliminary steps into the direction of extending the study on
single neighborhood operator heuristics to more sophisticated ones that use
multiple operators. Therefore, in the present paper we investigate a twolayer
LON obtained from instances of a combinatorial problem using bitflip and swap
operators. First, we enumerate instances of NK-landscape model and use the hill
climbing heuristic to build the corresponding LONs. Then, using LON metrics, we
analyze how efficiently the search might be when combining both strategies. The
experiments show promising results and demonstrate the ability of multi-layer
LONs to provide useful information that could be used for in metaheuristics
based on multiple operators such as Variable Neighborhood Search.Comment: Accepted in GECCO202
A Study of NK Landscapes' Basins and Local Optima Networks
We propose a network characterization of combinatorial fitness landscapes by
adapting the notion of inherent networks proposed for energy surfaces (Doye,
2002). We use the well-known family of landscapes as an example. In our
case the inherent network is the graph where the vertices are all the local
maxima and edges mean basin adjacency between two maxima. We exhaustively
extract such networks on representative small NK landscape instances, and show
that they are 'small-worlds'. However, the maxima graphs are not random, since
their clustering coefficients are much larger than those of corresponding
random graphs. Furthermore, the degree distributions are close to exponential
instead of Poissonian. We also describe the nature of the basins of attraction
and their relationship with the local maxima network.Comment: best paper nominatio
Complex-network analysis of combinatorial spaces: The NK landscape case
We propose a network characterization of combinatorial fitness landscapes by
adapting the notion of inherent networks proposed for energy surfaces. We use
the well-known family of NK landscapes as an example. In our case the inherent
network is the graph whose vertices represent the local maxima in the
landscape, and the edges account for the transition probabilities between their
corresponding basins of attraction. We exhaustively extracted such networks on
representative NK landscape instances, and performed a statistical
characterization of their properties. We found that most of these network
properties are related to the search difficulty on the underlying NK landscapes
with varying values of K.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:0810.3492,
arXiv:0810.348
PageRank centrality for performance prediction: the impact of the local optima network model
A local optima network (LON) compresses relevant features of fitness landscapes in a complex network, where nodes are local optima and edges represent transition probabilities between different basins of attraction. Previous work has found that the PageRank centrality of local optima can be used to predict the success rate and average fitness achieved by local search based metaheuristics. Results are available for LONs where edges describe either basin transition probabilities or escape edges. This paper studies the interplay between the type of LON edges and the ability of the PageRank centrality for the resulting LON to predict the performance of local search based metaheuristics. It finds that LONs are stochastic models of the search heuristic. Thus, to achieve an accurate prediction, the definition of the LON edges must properly reflect the type of diversification steps used in the metaheuristic. LONs with edges representing basin transition probabilities capture well the diversification mechanism of simulated annealing which sometimes also accepts worse solutions that allow the search process to pass between basins. In contrast, LONs with escape edges capture well the diversification step of iterated local search, which escapes from local optima by applying a larger perturbation step
Visualising the Landscape of Multi-Objective Problems using Local Optima Networks
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from ACM via the DOI in this recordThe codebase for this paper is available at https://github.com/fieldsend/mo_lonsLocal optima networks (LONs) represent the landscape of optimisation problems. In a LON, graph vertices represent local optima in the search domain, their radii the basin sizes, and directed edges between vertices the ability to transit from one basin to another (with the edge width denoting how easy this is). Recently, a network construction approach inspired by LONs has been proposed for multi-objective problems which uses an undirected graph, representing mutually non-dominating solutions and neighbouring links, but not basin sizes. In contrast, here we introduce two formulations for multi/many-objective problems which are analogous to the traditional LON, using dominance-based hill-climbing to characterise the search domain. Each vertex represents a set of locally optimal solutions, with basins and ease of transition between them shown. These LONs vary depending on whether a point-based (dominance neutral optima) or set-based (Pareto local optima) representation is used to define mode construction. We illustrate these alternative formulations on some illustrative problems.We discuss some of the underlying computational issues in constructing LONs in a multiobjective as opposed to uni-objective problem domain, along with the inherent issue of neutrality — as each a vertex in these graphs almost invariably represents a set in our proposed constructs.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC
Comparing Communities of Optima with Funnels in Combinatorial Fitness Landscapes
The existence of sub-optimal funnels in combinatorial fitness landscapes has been linked to search difficulty. The exact nature of these structures — and how commonly they appear — is not yet fully understood. Improving our understanding of funnels could help with designing effective diversification mechanisms for a ‘smoothing’ effect, making optimisation easier. We model fitness landscapes as local optima networks. The relationship between communities of local optima found by network clustering algorithms and funnels is explored. Funnels are identified using the notion of monotonic sequences from the study of energy landscapes in theoretical chemistry. NK Landscapes and the Quadratic Assignment Problem are used as case studies. Our results show that communities are linked to funnels. The analysis exhibits relationships between these landscape structures and the performance of trajectory-based metaheuristics such as Simulated Annealing (SA) and Iterated Local Search (ILS). In particular, ILS gets trapped in funnels, and modular communities of optima slow it down. The funnels contribute to lower success for SA. We show that increasing the strength of ILS perturbation helps to ‘smooth’ the funnels and improves performance in multi-funnel landscapes.Authors listed as ECOM Trac
A characterisation of S-box fitness landscapes in cryptography
Substitution Boxes (S-boxes) are nonlinear objects often used in the design
of cryptographic algorithms. The design of high quality S-boxes is an
interesting problem that attracts a lot of attention. Many attempts have been
made in recent years to use heuristics to design S-boxes, but the results were
often far from the previously known best obtained ones. Unfortunately, most of
the effort went into exploring different algorithms and fitness functions while
little attention has been given to the understanding why this problem is so
difficult for heuristics. In this paper, we conduct a fitness landscape
analysis to better understand why this problem can be difficult. Among other,
we find that almost each initial starting point has its own local optimum, even
though the networks are highly interconnected
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