A natural and simple function which is hard for all evolutionary algorithms

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are randomized search strategies that have turned out to be efficient for somewhat different optimization problems. In order to understand the behavior of EAs, one is also interested in examples where EAs need exponential time to find an optimal solution. Until now only artificial examples of this kind were known. An example with a clear and simple structure is presented. It can be described by a short formula, it is a polynomial of degree 3, and it is an instance of a well-known problem, the theoretically and practically important MAXSAT problem.