A review on the simulation of social networks inside heuristic algorithms

Abstract

This paper represents a comprehensive review of selected methods for visualization of the population dynamics of the swarm and evolutionary algorithms in the form of networks. The whole idea is based on the obvious similarity between interactions between individuals in a swarm and evolutionary algorithms and for example, users of social networks, society, etc. The analogy between individuals from the population used in an arbitrary evolutionary or swarm-based algorithm and vertices (nodes) of a network is discussed here, as well as between edges in a network and communication between individuals in a population. Simple experiments with four well-known heuristic algorithms are described here, giving an insight into different approaches to the building of the network during metaheuristic run. © ECMS Lars Nolle, Alexandra Burger, Christoph Tholen, Jens Werner, Jens Wellhausen