Search

Abstract: We show that given a -bounded pseudo-Boolean function , one can always compute the th moment of over regions of arbitrary radius in Hamming space in polynomial time using algebraic information from the adjacency structure (where and are constants). This result has implications for evolutionary algorithms and local search algorithms because information about promising regions of the search space can be efficiently retrieved, even if the cardinality of the region is exponential in the problem size. Finally, we use our results to introduce a method of efficiently calculating the expected fitness of mutations for evolutionary algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A finite set of words over an alphabet is cyclic if, whenever and , we have . If it is only assumed that the property holds for all with a large length, then is called pseudo-cyclic, that is, there is such that, whenever with , and , we have . We analyze the class of pseudo-cyclic sets and describe how it is related to the open question which asks whether every irreducible shift of finite type is conjugate to a renewal system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]