A no-free-lunch framework for coevolution

The No-Free-Lunch theorem is a fundamental result in the field of black-box function optimization. Recent work has shown that coevolution can exhibit free lunches. The question as to which classes of coevolution exhibit free lunches is still open. In this paper we present a novel framework for analyzing No-Free-Lunch like results for classes of coevolutionary algorithms. Our framework has the advantage of analyzing No-Free-Lunch like inquiries in terms of solution concepts and isomorphisms on the weak preference relation on solution configurations. This allows coevolutionary algorithms to be naturally classified by the type of solution they seek. Using the weak preference relation also permits us to present a simpler definition of performance metrics than that used in previous coevolutionary No-Free-Lunch work, more akin to the definition used in the original No-Free-Lunch theorem. The framework presented in this paper can be viewed as the combination of the ideas and definition...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: GECCO
• Authors: Travis C. Service, Daniel R. Tauritz
• Keywords: Coevolutionary Algorithms, Exhibit Free Lunches, GECCO 2008, Optimization, Weak Preference Relation