A differentiating evolutionary computation approach for the multidimensional knapsack problem

Abstract

In this paper, the DEC (Differentiating Evolutionary Computation) algorithm is presented for solving a zero-one multidimensional knapsack problem. It has three new improvements. They are the use of a chromosome bank for elitism, the use of the superior clan and the inferior clan to improve exploitation and exploration, and the use of genetic modification to enable faster convergence. The experimental results have shown that the DEC algorithm is better than a greedy algorithm and a generic genetic algorithm. It can find solutions very close to those found by the algorithm proposed by Chu & Beasley. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.