Solving multimodal optimization problems using adaptive differential evolution with archive

Evolutionary algorithms are widely used to solve multimodal optimization problems. The two main challenges faced while solving MMOPs are locating multiple optimal solutions and improving the accuracy of these solutions. In this paper, we have proposed an adaptive algorithm based on differential evolution using the distributed framework in mutation strategy and an elite archive mechanism termed Adaptive Differential Evolution with Archive to deal with these challenges. The following techniques have been proposed and integrated to locate multiple diverse optimal solutions with refined accuracy. Firstly, each individual in the population is treated as a possible exemplar and is expected to reach an optimal value by exploring the nearby search space. The search space is controlled by using an adjustable range mechanism. An adaptive mutation strategy is then used to ensure that all the good solutions or individuals of the population move to better positions. Next, an elite archive is constructed for stagnated individuals to avoid getting stuck in local optimas. The experimental results on the 20 multimodal functions from IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2013 illustrate that the performance of the proposed algorithm is better than the existing multimodal optimization algorithms in terms of finding more number of accurate solutions.