Speaker:

Aiden Wright - Professor of Computer Science, University of Montana

Title:

Fixed points of genetic algorithms

Location:

Archway 2 - 1:00 pm, Friday 4 March

Abstract:

I will survey some different kinds of artificial evolution, including biochemical evolution, the evolution of technology, and evolutionary computation. Then I will specialize to one particular form of evolutionary computation, the "simple" genetic algorithm (SGA). I will describe a dynamical system "infinite population" model of the (SGA) and new results on how fixed points of this model move as the mutation rate increases from zero. I will also describe results on "bistability", a counter-intuitive phenomenon of both biological and evolutionary computation systems. Finally, I will propose that we need a unified understanding of all forms of evolution, both natural and artificial.