This book explains the most prominent and some promising new, general techniques that combine metaheuristics with other optimization methods. A first introductory chapter reviews the basic principles of local search, prominent metaheuristics, and tree search, dynamic programming, mixed integer linear programming, and constraint programming for combinatorial optimization purposes. The chapters that follow present five generally applicable hybridization strategies, with exemplary case studies on selected problems: incomplete solution representations and decoders; problem instance reduction; large neighborhood search; parallel non-independent construction of solutions within metaheuristics; and hybridization based on complete solution archives. The authors are among the leading researchers in the hybridization of metaheuristics with other techniques for optimization, and their work reflects the broad shift to problem-oriented rather than algorithm-oriented approaches, enabling faster and more effective implementation in real-life applications. This hybridization is not restricted to different variants of metaheuristics but includes, for example, the combination of mathematical programming, dynamic programming, or constraint programming with metaheuristics, reflecting cross-fertilization in fields such as optimization, algorithmics, mathematical modeling, operations research, statistics, and simulation. The book is a valuable introduction and reference for researchers and graduate students in these domains.

This book explains the most prominent and some promising new, general techniques that combine metaheuristics with other optimization methods. A first introductory chapter reviews the basic principles of local search, prominent metaheuristics, and tree search, dynamic programming, mixed integer linear programming, and constraint programming for combinatorial optimization purposes. The chapters that follow present five generally applicable hybridization strategies, with exemplary case studies on selected problems: incomplete solution representations and decoders; problem instance reduction; large neighborhood search; parallel non-independent construction of solutions within metaheuristics; and hybridization based on complete solution archives. The authors are among the leading researchers in the hybridization of metaheuristics with other techniques for optimization, and their work reflects the broad shift to problem-oriented rather than algorithm-oriented approaches, enabling faster and more effective implementation in real-life applications. This hybridization is not restricted to different variants of metaheuristics but includes, for example, the combination of mathematical programming, dynamic programming, or constraint programming with metaheuristics, reflecting cross-fertilization in fields such as optimization, algorithmics, mathematical modeling, operations research, statistics, and simulation. The book is a valuable introduction and reference for researchers and graduate students in these domains.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Evolutionary Computation in Combinatorial Optimization, EvoCOP 2006, held in Budapest, Hungary in April 2006. The 24 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 77 submissions. The papers include coverage of evolutionary algorithms as well as various other metaheuristics, like scatter search, tabu search, and memetic algorithms.

Evolutionary computation (EC) involves the study of problem-solving and op- mization techniques inspired by principles of natural evolution and genetics. EC has been able to draw the attention of an increasing number of researchers and practitioners in several ?elds. Evolutionary algorithms have in particular been showntobee?ectivefordi?cultcombinatorialoptimizationproblemsappearing in various industrial, economics, and scienti?c domains. This volume contains the proceedings of EvoCOP 2005, the 5th European Conference on Evolutionary Computation in Combinatorial Optimization. It was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 March-1 April 2005, jointly with EuroGP 2005, the 8th European Conference on Genetic Programming, and the EvoWorkshops 2005, which consisted of the following six individual workshops: EvoBIO, the 3rd European Workshop on Evolutionary Bioinformatics; Evo- COMNET, the 2nd European Workshop on Evolutionary Computation in C- munication, Networks, and Connected Systems; EvoHOT, the 2nd European Workshop on Hardware Optimisation Techniques; EvoIASP, the 7th European Workshop on Evolutionary Computation in Image Analysis and Signal Proce- ing; EvoMUSART, the 3rd European Workshop on Evolutionary Music and Art; and EvoSTOC, the 2nd European Workshop on Evolutionary Algorithms in Stochastic and Dynamic Environments.

Evolutionary Computation (EC) involves the study of problem solving and op- mization techniques inspired by principles of natural evolution and genetics. EC has been able to draw the attention of an increasing number of researchers and practitioners in several ?elds. Evolutionary algorithms have in particular been showntobee?ectivefordi?cultcombinatorialoptimizationproblemsappearing in various industrial, economic, and scienti?c domains. This volume contains the proceedings of EvoCOP 2004, the 4th European ConferenceonEvolutionaryComputationinCombinatorialOptimization.Itwas held in Coimbra, Portugal, on April 5 7, 2004, jointly with EuroGP 2004, the 7th European Conference on Genetic Programming, and EvoWorkshops 2004, which consisted of the following six individual workshops: EvoBIO, the 2nd - ropean Workshop on Evolutionary Bioinformatics; EvoCOMNET, the 1st - ropean Workshop on Evolutionary Computation in Communications, Networks, and Connected Systems; EvoHOT, the 1st European Workshop on Hardware Optimisation; EvoIASP, the 6th European Workshop on Evolutionary Com- tation in Image Analysis and Signal Processing; EvoMUSART, the 2nd Eu- pean Workshop on Evolutionary Music and Art; and EvoSTOC, the 1st Eu- pean Workshop on Evolutionary Algorithms in Stochastic and Dynamic En- ronments."

Evolutionary Computation (EC) deals with problem solving, optimization, and machine learning techniques inspired by principles of natural evolution and - netics. Just from this basic de?nition, it is clear that one of the main features of theresearchcommunityinvolvedinthestudyofitstheoryandinitsapplications is multidisciplinarity. For this reason, EC has been able to draw the attention of an ever-increasing number of researchers and practitioners in several ?elds. In its 6-year-long activity, EvoNet, the European Network of Excellence in Evolutionary Computing, has been the natural reference and incubator for that multifaceted community. EvoNet has provided logistic and material support for thosewhowerealreadyinvolvedinECbut, inthe?rstplace, ithashadacritical role in favoring the signi?cant growth of the EC community and its interactions with longer-established ones. The main instrument that has made this possible has been the series of events, ?rst organized in 1998, that have spanned over both theoretical and practical aspects of EC. Ever since 1999, the present format, in which the EvoWorkshops, a collection of workshops on the most application-oriented aspects of EC, act as satellites of a core event, has proven to be very successful and very representative of the multi-disciplinarity of EC. Up to 2003, the core was represented by EuroGP, the main European event dedicated to Genetic Programming. EuroGP has been joined as the main event in 2004 by EvoCOP, formerly part of EvoWorkshops, which has become the European Conference on Evolutionary Computation in Combinatorial Optimizatio

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of three workshops on the application of evolutionary programming and algorithms in various domains; these workshops were held in conjunction with the 5th European Conference on Genetic Programming, EuroGP 2002, in Kinsale, Ireland, in April 2002.The 33 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected by the respective program committees. In accordance with the three workshops EvoCOP, EvoIASP, and EvoSTIM/EvoPLAN, the papers are organized in topical sections on combinatorial optimization problems; image analysis and signal processing; and scheduling, timetabling, and AI planning.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of five application-oriented workshops held concurrently as EvoWorkshops 2001 in Como, Italy in April 2001.The 52 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected out of 75 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on graph problems, Knapsack problems, ant algorithms, assignment problems, evolutionary algorithms analysis, permutative problems, aeronautics, image analysis and signal processing, evolutionary learning, and evolutionary scheduling and timetabling.