Hybrid Metaheuristics: An Introduction

none2In many real life settings, high quality solutions to hard optimization problems such as flight scheduling or load balancing in telecommunication networks are required in a short amount of time. Due to the practical importance of optimization problems for industry and science, many algorithms to tackle them have been developed. One important class of such algorithms are metaheuristics. The field of metaheuristic research has enjoyed a considerable popularity in the last decades. In this introductory chapter we first provide a general overview on metaheuristics. Then we turn towards a new and highly successful branch of metaheuristic research, namely the hybridization of metaheuristics with algorithmic components originating from other techniques for optimization. The chapter ends with an outline of the remaining book chapters.Titolo della collana: Studies in computational intelligencenoneBlum, C.; Roli, AndreaBlum, C.; Roli, Andre