A formal relationship between ant colony optimizers and classifier systems

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that, with minimal modifications, a classifier system can be made to operate just as an ant colony optimizer does for solving the TSP. The paper contains a formal proof of this result, and suggests that the modifications made could be useful in other ways. In effect, the paper suggests that there may be a new role for classifier systems in optimization, inspired by the way that ant colony optimizers have achieved their successes. The paper also suggests that there may be ways suggested by classifier systems to modify ant colony optimization practice. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.