Evolution_window
Evolution window
Narrow band of mutation step size that is conducive to significant evolutionary progress
It was observed in evolution strategies that significant progress toward the fitness/objective function's optimum, generally, can only happen in a narrow band of the mutation step size σ. That narrow band is called evolution window.
There are three well-known methods to adapt the mutation step size σ in evolution strategies:
- (1/5-th) Success Rule
- Self-Adaptation (for example through log-normal mutations)
- Cumulative Step Size Adaptation (CSA)
On simple functions all of them have been empirically shown to keep the step size within the evolution window.