A Model Of Landscapes
Note: the material in this paper is an early version
of work that I greatly developed in
my dissertation
(specifically, in
chapter 2).
Terry Jones
Santa Fe Institute
1399 Hyde Park Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
terry@santafe.edu
Abstract
The use of the term "landscape" is increasing rapidly in the field
of evolutionary computation, yet in many cases it remains poorly, if
at all, defined. This situation has perhaps developed because everyone
grasps the imagery immediately, and the questions that would be asked
of a less evocative term do not get asked. This paper presents a model
of landscapes that is general enough to encompass most of what
computer scientists would call search, though the model is not
restricted to either the field or the viewpoint. It is particularly
relevant to algorithms that employ some form of crossover, and hence
to genetic algorithms and other members of the evolutionary computing
family. An overview of the consequences and properties of the model
establishes a connection with more traditional search algorithms from
artificial intelligence, introduces the notion of a crossover
landscape, and argues the importance of viewing search as navigation
and structure.
Terry Jones (terry <AT> jon.es)