Self-Adaptation in Evolutionary Algorithms

In this chapter, we will give an overview over self-adaptive methods in evolutionary algorithms. Self-adaptation in its purest meaning is a state-of-the-art method to adjust the setting of control parameters. It is called self-adaptive because the algorithm controls the setting of these parameters itself – embedding them into an individual’s genome and evolving them. We will start with a short history of adaptation methods. The section is followed by a presentation of classification schemes for adaptation rules. Afterwards, we will review empirical and theoretical research of self-adaptation methods applied in genetic algorithms, evolutionary programming, and evolution strategies.