A Theoretical Analysis of Analogy-Based Evolutionary Transfer Optimization

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Xue, Xiaoming, Feng, Liang, Feng, Yinglan, Liu, Rui, Zhang, Kai, Tan, Kay Chen
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Xue, Xiaoming
Feng, Liang
Feng, Yinglan
Liu, Rui
Zhang, Kai
Tan, Kay Chen
author_facet Xue, Xiaoming
Feng, Liang
Feng, Yinglan
Liu, Rui
Zhang, Kai
Tan, Kay Chen
contents Evolutionary transfer optimization (ETO) has been gaining popularity in research over the years due to its outstanding knowledge transfer ability to address various challenges in optimization. However, a pressing issue in this field is that the invention of new ETO algorithms has far outpaced the development of fundamental theories needed to clearly understand the key factors contributing to the success of these algorithms for effective generalization. In response to this challenge, this study aims to establish theoretical foundations for analogy-based ETO, specifically to support various algorithms that frequently reference a key concept known as similarity. First, we introduce analogical reasoning and link its subprocesses to three key issues in ETO. Then, we develop theories for analogy-based knowledge transfer, rooted in the principles that underlie the subprocesses. Afterwards, we present two theorems related to the performance gain of analogy-based knowledge transfer, namely unconditionally nonnegative performance gain and conditionally positive performance gain, to theoretically demonstrate the effectiveness of various analogy-based ETO methods. Last but not least, we offer a novel insight into analogy-based ETO that interprets its conditional superiority over traditional evolutionary optimization through the lens of the no free lunch theorem for optimization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_21156
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Theoretical Analysis of Analogy-Based Evolutionary Transfer Optimization
Xue, Xiaoming
Feng, Liang
Feng, Yinglan
Liu, Rui
Zhang, Kai
Tan, Kay Chen
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Evolutionary transfer optimization (ETO) has been gaining popularity in research over the years due to its outstanding knowledge transfer ability to address various challenges in optimization. However, a pressing issue in this field is that the invention of new ETO algorithms has far outpaced the development of fundamental theories needed to clearly understand the key factors contributing to the success of these algorithms for effective generalization. In response to this challenge, this study aims to establish theoretical foundations for analogy-based ETO, specifically to support various algorithms that frequently reference a key concept known as similarity. First, we introduce analogical reasoning and link its subprocesses to three key issues in ETO. Then, we develop theories for analogy-based knowledge transfer, rooted in the principles that underlie the subprocesses. Afterwards, we present two theorems related to the performance gain of analogy-based knowledge transfer, namely unconditionally nonnegative performance gain and conditionally positive performance gain, to theoretically demonstrate the effectiveness of various analogy-based ETO methods. Last but not least, we offer a novel insight into analogy-based ETO that interprets its conditional superiority over traditional evolutionary optimization through the lens of the no free lunch theorem for optimization.
title A Theoretical Analysis of Analogy-Based Evolutionary Transfer Optimization
topic Neural and Evolutionary Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.21156