Non-genetic transmission of memes by diffusion
Abstract
In recent years, there has been an increase in research activities on Memetic Algorithm (MA). MA works with memes; a meme being defined as "the basic unit of cultural transmission, or imitation" [5]. In this respect, a Memetic Algorithm essentially refers to "an algorithm that mimics the mechanisms of cultural evolution". To date, there has been significant effort in bringing MA closer to the idea of cultural evolution. In this paper we assess MAs from the perspectives of "Universal Darwinism" and "Memetics". Subsequently, we propose a Diffusion Memetic Algorithm where the memetic material is transmitted by means of non-genetic transfer. Numerical studies are presented based on some of the commonly used synthetic problems in continuous optimization.
Authors: Quang Huy Nguyen, Yew-Soon Ong, Meng Hiot Lim
Published in: Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) (2008)