Genetic Algorithm Solution of the TSP Avoiding Specila Crossover and Mutation

Ordinary representations of permutations in Genetic Algorithms (GA) is handicapped with producing ospring which are not permutations at all. The conventional solution for crossover and mutation operations of permutations is to device `special' operators. Unfortunately these operators suer from violating the nature of crossover. Namely, considering the gene positions on the chromosome, these methods do not allow n-point crossover techniques which are known to favour building-block formations. In this work, an inversion sequence is proposed as the representation of a permutation. This sequence allows repetitive values and hence is robust under ordinary (n-point) crossover. There is a one-to-one mapping from ordinary permutation representation to the inversion sequence representation