An improved GA and a novel PSO-GA-based hybrid algorithm

Inspired by the natural features of the variable size of the population, we present a variable population-size genetic algorithm (VPGA) by introducing the “dying probability” for the individuals and the “war/disease process” for the population. Based on the VPGA and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms, a novel PSO-GA-based hybrid algorithm (PGHA) is also proposed in this paper. Simulation results show that both VPGA and PGHA are effective for the optimization problems.  2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.