A fast multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on a tree structure

Chuan Shi, Zhenyu Yan, Zhongzhi Shi, Lei Zhang

Abstract: This paper proposes a fast evolutionary algorithm based on a tree structure for multi-objective optimization. The tree structure, named dominating tree (DT), is able to preserve the necessary Pareto dominance relations among individuals effectively, contains the density information implicitly, and reduces the number of comparisons among individuals significantly. The evolutionary algorithm based on dominating tree (DTEA) integrates the convergence strategy and diversity strategy into the DT and employs a DT-based eliminating strategy that realizes elitism and preserves population diversity without extra time and space costs. Numerical experiments show that DTEA is much faster than SPEA2, NSGA-II and an improved version of NSGA-II, while its solution quality is competitive with those of SPEA2 and NSGA-II.