This article introduces a new variant on the popular optimization method, simulated annealing, herein called modified discrete-state simulated annealing. A guide in practical implementation of simulated tempering is also provided. The algorithms are tested in the design of an ideal collector for a travelling wave tube amplifier. keywords: simulated annealing, simulated tempering, travelling wav...

For many optimization algorithms the time to solution depends not only on the problem size but also on the specific problem instance and may vary by many orders of magnitude. It is then necessary to investigate the full distribution and especially its tail. Here, we analyze the distributions of annealing times for simulated annealing and simulated quantum annealing (by path integral quantum Mon...