Impact of chaotic dynamics on the performance of metaheuristic optimization algorithms: An experimental analysis

Random mechanisms including mutations are an internal part of evolutionary algorithms, which are based on the fundamental ideas of Darwin’s theory of evolution as well as Mendel’s theory of genetic heritage. In this paper, we debate whether pseudo-random processes are needed for evolutionary algorithms or whether deterministic chaos, which is not a random process, can be suitably used instead. Specifically, we compare the performance of 10 evolutionary algorithms driven by chaotic dynamics and pseudo-random number generators using chaotic processes as a comparative study. In this study, the logistic equation is employed for generating periodical sequences of different lengths, which are used in evolutionary algorithms instead of randomness. We suggest that, instead of pseudo-random number generators, a specific class of deterministic processes (based on deterministic chaos) can be used to improve the performance of evolutionary algorithms. Finally, based on our findings, we propose new research questions.