MOP Evolutionary Algorithm Approaches

Both researchers and practitioners in science, engineering, government, and industry certainly have a strong interest in knowing state-of-the-art multi-objective optimization techniques. For researchers, this is the normal procedure to trigger new and original algorithmic contributions. For practitioners, this knowledge allows them to choose the most appropriate algorithm(s) for their specific multi-objective problem (MOP) domain application. From the decision maker’s (DM) perspective, it is desired that only a “few” solutions are available for ease of decision. Thus, as presented in Chapter 1, one is attempting to optimize a vector objective function possibly with constraints resulting in trade-offs between the multiple objectives. This chapter employs the various generic mathematical definitions defined in Chapter 1 for discussing multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) design. It is desired that an MOEA generates MOP solutions in

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which provide a trade-off of performance (efficiency, effectiveness) for specific system model objectives (cost/profit, constraints, etc.) that may mutually conflict. For example, the classical multiobjective knapsack problem (profit and weight) and drug development (cost vs. effectiveness) represent vectors of two objectives. Maximizing one objective such as profit usually does not optimize another such as reliability.