Accelerating Evolution: Integrating PSO Principles into Real-Coded Genetic Algorithm Crossover

TL;DR

This paper presents PSOX, a novel crossover operator inspired by PSO principles for real-coded genetic algorithms, which enhances convergence speed and solution accuracy across diverse benchmark functions.

Contribution

The study introduces PSOX, a new crossover method that integrates global and historical best solutions, improving diversity and convergence in real-coded genetic algorithms.

Findings

PSOX outperforms existing crossover operators in accuracy and speed.

Incorporating historical solutions enhances population diversity.

Optimal mutation rates depend on problem landscape complexity.

Abstract

This study introduces an innovative crossover operator named Particle Swarm Optimization-inspired Crossover (PSOX), which is specifically developed for real-coded genetic algorithms. Departing from conventional crossover approaches that only exchange information between individuals within the same generation, PSOX uniquely incorporates guidance from both the current global best solution and historical optimal solutions across multiple generations. This novel mechanism enables the algorithm to maintain population diversity while simultaneously accelerating convergence toward promising regions of the search space. The effectiveness of PSOX is rigorously evaluated through comprehensive experiments on 15 benchmark test functions with diverse characteristics, including unimodal, multimodal, and highly complex landscapes. Comparative analysis against five state-of-the-art crossover operators reveals that PSOX consistently delivers superior performance in terms of solution accuracy, algorithmic stability, and convergence speed, especially when combined with an appropriate mutation strategy. Furthermore, the study provides an in-depth investigation of how different mutation rates influence PSOX's performance, yielding practical guidelines for parameter tuning when addressing optimization problems with varying landscape properties.