Drift analysis of mutation operations for biogeography-based optimization

As an essential factor of evolutionary algorithms (EAs), mutation operator plays an important role in exploring the search space, maintaining the diversity of individuals and breaking away local optimums. In most standard evolutionary algorithms, the mutation operator is independent from the recombination operator. Nevertheless, in biogeography-based optimization (BBO), the mutation operator is affected not only by predefined constants but also by recombination models, namely the migration operator. However to date, the relationship between the mutation and migration has never been investigated. To reveal the relationship and evaluate the mutation models, we utilize drift analysis to investigate the expected first hitting time of BBO with different migration models. The analysis compares three different kinds of mutation models in a mathematical way and the conclusion is helpful for designing migration models of BBO. The simulation results are also in agreement with our analysis.