Scatter Search and Path-Relinking: Fundamentals, Advances, and Applications
Scatter search is an evolutionary metaheuristic that explores solution spaces by evolving a set of reference points, operating on a small set of solutions while making only limited use of randomization. We give a comprehensive description of the elements and methods that make up its template, including the most recent elements incorporated in successful applications in both global and combinatorial optimization. Path-relinking is an intensification strategy to explore trajectories connecting elite solutions obtained by heuristic methods such as scatter search, tabu search, and GRASP. We describe its mechanics, implementation issues, randomization, the use of pools of high-quality solutions …
Multi-start methods for combinatorial optimization
Abstract Multi-start methods strategically sample the solution space of an optimization problem. The most successful of these methods have two phases that are alternated for a certain number of global iterations. The first phase generates a solution and the second seeks to improve the outcome. Each global iteration produces a solution that is typically a local optimum, and the best overall solution is the output of the algorithm. The interaction between the two phases creates a balance between search diversification (structural variation) and search intensification (improvement), to yield an effective means for generating high-quality solutions. This survey briefly sketches historical devel…