Neighbor-Induction and Population-Dispersion in Differential Evolution Algorithm

The differential evolution (DE) optimization algorithm predominantly relies on elite individuals and random difference to direct evolution. Although the strategy is clear and easy to implement, identifying a suitable direction for the DE mutation strongly depends on the direction information provided beforehand. To address this, we present a neighbor-induced mutation operator that simulates the neighbor-induced movement of Antarctic krill to guide the evolution direction in a natural manner. Additionally, center dispersion is proposed to disperse the population and redistribute individual positions to escape search stagnation, inspired by the spreading out of krill around newly discovered food. Comprising the new operator and the center dispersion pattern, this paper proposes a neighbor-induced DE algorithm with dispersion pattern (NDEd). The results of the comparative experiments verify the effectiveness of the neighbor-induced mutation operator and the dispersion pattern. Further, experimental results from 28 test functions of CEC2013 demonstrate that NDEd performs better compared to the other classic DE algorithms.