Randomized search heuristics such as evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithms, evolution strategies, ant colony and particle swarm optimization turn out to be highly successful for optimization in practice. The theory of randomized search heuristics, which has been growing rapidly in the last five years, also attempts to explain the success of the methods in practical applications.This book covers both classical results and the most recent theoretical developments in the field of randomized search heuristics such as runtime analysis, drift analysis and convergence. Each chapter provides an overview of a particular domain and gives insights into the proofs and proof techniques of more specialized areas. Open problems still remain widely in randomized search heuristics - being a relatively young and vast field. These problems and directions for future research are addressed and discussed in this book.The book will be an essential source of reference for experts in the domain of randomized search heuristics and also for researchers who are involved or ready to embark in this field. As an advanced textbook, graduate students will benefit from the comprehensive coverage of topics

This two-volume set LNCS 11101 and 11102 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature, PPSN 2018, held in Coimbra, Portugal, in September 2018. The 79 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 205 submissions. The papers cover a wide range of topics in natural computing including evolutionary computation, artificial neural networks, artificial life, swarm intelligence, artificial immune systems, self-organizing systems, emergent behavior, molecular computing, evolutionary robotics, evolvable hardware, parallel implementations and applications to real-world problems. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: numerical optimization; combinatorial optimization; genetic programming; multi-objective optimization; parallel and distributed frameworks; runtime analysis and approximation results; fitness landscape modeling and analysis; algorithm configuration, selection, and benchmarking; machine learning and evolutionary algorithms; and applications. Also included are the descriptions of 23 tutorials and 6 workshops which took place in the framework of PPSN XV.

This two-volume set LNCS 11101 and 11102 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature, PPSN 2018, held in Coimbra, Portugal, in September 2018. The 79 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 205 submissions. The papers cover a wide range of topics in natural computing including evolutionary computation, artificial neural networks, artificial life, swarm intelligence, artificial immune systems, self-organizing systems, emergent behavior, molecular computing, evolutionary robotics, evolvable hardware, parallel implementations and applications to real-world problems. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: numerical optimization; combinatorial optimization; genetic programming; multi-objective optimization; parallel and distributed frameworks; runtime analysis and approximation results; fitness landscape modeling and analysis; algorithm configuration, selection, and benchmarking; machine learning and evolutionary algorithms; and applications. Also included are the descriptions of 23 tutorials and 6 workshops which took place in the framework of PPSN XV.