An Experimental Approach for Running-Time Estimation of Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms in Numerical Optimization

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Main Authors: Huang, Han, Wang, Tianyu, Peng, Chaoda, He, Tongli, Hao, Zhifeng
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Huang, Han
Wang, Tianyu
Peng, Chaoda
He, Tongli
Hao, Zhifeng
author_facet Huang, Han
Wang, Tianyu
Peng, Chaoda
He, Tongli
Hao, Zhifeng
contents Multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) have become essential tools for solving multi-objective optimization problems (MOPs), making their running time analysis crucial for assessing algorithmic efficiency and guiding practical applications. While significant theoretical advances have been achieved for combinatorial optimization, existing studies for numerical optimization primarily rely on algorithmic or problem simplifications, limiting their applicability to real-world scenarios. To address this gap, we propose an experimental approach for estimating upper bounds on the running time of MOEAs in numerical optimization without simplification assumptions. Our approach employs an average gain model that characterizes algorithmic progress through the Inverted Generational Distance metric. To handle the stochastic nature of MOEAs, we use statistical methods to estimate the probabilistic distribution of gains. Recognizing that gain distributions in numerical optimization exhibit irregular patterns with varying densities across different regions, we introduce an adaptive sampling method that dynamically adjusts sampling density to ensure accurate surface fitting for running time estimation. We conduct comprehensive experiments on five representative MOEAs (NSGA-II, MOEA/D, AR-MOEA, AGEMOEA-II, and PREA) using the ZDT and DTLZ benchmark suites. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in estimating upper bounds on the running time without requiring algorithmic or problem simplifications. Additionally, we provide a web-based implementation to facilitate broader adoption of our methodology. This work provides a practical complement to theoretical research on MOEAs in numerical optimization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_02372
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An Experimental Approach for Running-Time Estimation of Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms in Numerical Optimization
Huang, Han
Wang, Tianyu
Peng, Chaoda
He, Tongli
Hao, Zhifeng
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) have become essential tools for solving multi-objective optimization problems (MOPs), making their running time analysis crucial for assessing algorithmic efficiency and guiding practical applications. While significant theoretical advances have been achieved for combinatorial optimization, existing studies for numerical optimization primarily rely on algorithmic or problem simplifications, limiting their applicability to real-world scenarios. To address this gap, we propose an experimental approach for estimating upper bounds on the running time of MOEAs in numerical optimization without simplification assumptions. Our approach employs an average gain model that characterizes algorithmic progress through the Inverted Generational Distance metric. To handle the stochastic nature of MOEAs, we use statistical methods to estimate the probabilistic distribution of gains. Recognizing that gain distributions in numerical optimization exhibit irregular patterns with varying densities across different regions, we introduce an adaptive sampling method that dynamically adjusts sampling density to ensure accurate surface fitting for running time estimation. We conduct comprehensive experiments on five representative MOEAs (NSGA-II, MOEA/D, AR-MOEA, AGEMOEA-II, and PREA) using the ZDT and DTLZ benchmark suites. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in estimating upper bounds on the running time without requiring algorithmic or problem simplifications. Additionally, we provide a web-based implementation to facilitate broader adoption of our methodology. This work provides a practical complement to theoretical research on MOEAs in numerical optimization.
title An Experimental Approach for Running-Time Estimation of Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms in Numerical Optimization
topic Neural and Evolutionary Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.02372