GenAI4ELab/papercli-papers huggingface dataset:
Theoretical Analysis of Evolutionary Algorithms with Quality Diversity for a Classical Path Planning Problem
Authors: Duc-Cuong Dang; Aneta Neumann; Frank Neumann; Andre Opris; Dirk Sudholt
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Quality diversity (QD) algorithms, an extension of evolutionary algorithms, excel at generating diverse sets of high-quality solutions for complex problems in robotics, games, and combinatorial optimisation. Despite their success, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood due to a lack of a theoretical foundation. We address this gap by analysing QD algorithms on the all-pairs-shortest-paths (APSP) problem, a classical planning task that naturally seeks multiple solutions. Using Map-Elites, a prominent QD approach, we leverage its ability to evolve solutions across distinct regions of a behavioural space, which for APSP corresponds to all pairs of nodes in the graph. Our analysis rigorously demonstrates that evolutionary algorithms using Map-Elites efficiently compute shortest paths for all node pairs in parallel by exploiting synergies in the behavioural space. By appending edges to an existing shortest path, mutation can create optimal solutions in other regions of the behavioural space. Crossover is particularly effective, as it can combine optimal paths from two regions to produce an optimal path for a third region simply by concatenating two shortest paths. Finally, refining the parent selection to facilitate successful crossovers exhibits significant speed-ups compared to standard QD approaches.
The First Theoretical Approximation Guarantees for the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm III (NSGA-III)
Authors: Renzhong Deng; Weijie Zheng; Benjamin Doerr
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: This work conducts a first theoretical analysis studying how well the NSGA-III approximates the Pareto front when the population size N is less than the Pareto front size. We show that when N is at least the number Nr of reference points, then the approximation quality, measured by the maximum empty interval (MEI) indicator, on the OneMinMax benchmark is such that there is no empty interval longer than ⌈(5-2√2)n/(Nr-1)⌉. This bound is independent of N, which suggests that further increasing the population size does not increase the quality of approximation when Nr is fixed. This is a notable difference to the NSGA-II with sequential survival selection, where increasing the population size improves the quality of the approximations. We also prove two results indicating approximation difficulties when N<Nr. These theoretical results suggest that the best setting to approximate the Pareto front is Nr=N. In our experiments, we observe that with this setting the NSGA-III computes optimal approximations, very different from the NSGA-II, for which optimal approximations have not been observed so far.
Tight Runtime Guarantees From Understanding the Population Dynamics of the GSEMO Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm
Authors: Benjamin Doerr; Martin S. Krejca; Andre Opris
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: The global simple evolutionary multi-objective optimizer (GSEMO) is a simple, yet often effective multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA). By only maintaining non-dominated solutions, it has a variable population size that automatically adjusts to the needs of the optimization process. The downside of the dynamic population size is that the population dynamics of this algorithm are harder to understand, resulting, e.g., in the fact that only sporadic tight runtime analyses exist. In this work, we significantly enhance our understanding of the dynamics of the GSEMO, in particular, for the classic CountingOnesCountingZeros (COCZ) benchmark. From this, we prove a lower bound of order Ω(n² log n), for the first time matching the seminal upper bounds known for over twenty years. We also show that the GSEMO finds any constant fraction of the Pareto front in time O(n²), improving over the previous estimate of O(n² log n) for the time to find the first Pareto optimum. Our methods extend to other classic benchmarks and yield, e.g., the first Ω(n^(k+1)) lower bound for the OJZJ benchmark in the case that the gap parameter is k ∈ {2,3}. We are therefore optimistic that our new methods will be useful in future mathematical analyses of MOEAs.
Scalable Speed-ups for the SMS-EMOA from a Simple Aging Strategy
Authors: Mingfeng Li; Weijie Zheng; Benjamin Doerr
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Different from single-objective evolutionary algorithms, where non-elitism is an established concept, multi-objective evolutionary algorithms almost always select the next population in a greedy fashion. In the only notable exception, a stochastic selection mechanism was recently proposed for the SMS-EMOA and was proven to speed up computing the Pareto front of the bi-objective jump benchmark with problem size n and gap parameter k by a factor of max{1,2^(k/4)/n}. While this constitutes the first proven speed-up from non-elitist selection, suggesting a very interesting research direction, it has to be noted that a true speed-up only occurs for k ≥ 4log(n), where the runtime is super-polynomial, and that the advantage reduces for larger numbers of objectives as shown in a later work. In this work, we propose a different non-elitist selection mechanism based on aging, which exempts individuals younger than a certain age from a possible removal. This remedies the two shortcomings of stochastic selection: We prove a speed-up by a factor of max{1,Θ(k)^(k-1)}, regardless of the number of objectives. In particular, a positive speed-up can already be observed for constant k, the only setting for which polynomial runtimes can be witnessed. Overall, this result supports the use of non-elitist selection schemes, but suggests that aging-based mechanisms can be considerably more powerful than stochastic selection mechanisms.
Randomised Optimism via Competitive Co-Evolution for Matrix Games with Bandit Feedback
Authors: Shishen Lin
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Learning in games is a fundamental problem in machine learning and artificial intelligence, with numerous applications. This work investigates two-player zero-sum matrix games with an unknown payoff matrix and bandit feedback, where each player observes their actions and the corresponding noisy payoff. Prior studies have proposed algorithms for this setting, demonstrating the effectiveness of deterministic optimism (e.g., UCB for matrix games) in achieving sublinear regret. However, the potential of randomised optimism in matrix games remains theoretically unexplored. We propose Competitive Co-evolutionary Bandit Learning (CoEBL), a novel algorithm that integrates evolutionary algorithms (EAs) into the bandit framework to implement randomised optimism through EA variation operators. We prove that CoEBL achieves sublinear regret, matching the performance of deterministic optimism-based methods. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first theoretical regret analysis of an evolutionary bandit learning algorithm in matrix games. Empirical evaluations on diverse matrix game benchmarks demonstrate that CoEBL not only achieves sublinear regret but also consistently outperforms classical bandit algorithms, including EXP3, the variant EXP3-IX, and UCB. These results highlight the potential of evolutionary bandit learning, particularly the efficacy of randomised optimism via evolutionary algorithms in game-theoretic settings.
A First Runtime Analysis of NSGA-III on a Many-Objective Multimodal Problem: Provable Exponential Speedup via Stochastic Population Update
Authors: Andre Opris
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: The NSGA-III is a prominent algorithm in evolutionary many-objective optimization. It is well-suited for optimizing functions with more than three objectives, setting it apart from the classic NSGA-II. However, theoretical insights about NSGA-III of when and why it performs well are still in its early development. This paper addresses this point and conducts a rigorous runtime analysis of NSGA-III on the many-objective OneJumpZeroJump benchmark (OJZJ for short), providing runtime bounds where the number of objectives is constant. We show that NSGA-III finds the Pareto front of OJZJ in time O(n^(k+d/2)+ N n ln(n)) where n is the problem size, d is the number of objectives, k is the gap size, a problem specific parameter, if its population size N is in 2^(O(n)) and at least (2n/d+1)^(d/2). Notably, NSGA-III is faster than NSGA-II by a factor of N/n^(d/2) for N=omega(n^(d/2)) . We also show that a stochastic population update provably guarantees a speedup of order (k/b)^(k-1) in the runtime where b>0 is a constant. Besides a paper of Wietheger and Doerr (PPSN 2024), this is the first rigorous runtime analysis of NSGA-III on OJZJ. Proving these bounds requires a much deeper understanding of the population dynamics of NSGA-III than previous papers achieved.
LiBOG: Lifelong Learning for Black-Box Optimizer Generation
Authors: Jiyuan Pei; Yi Mei; Jialin Liu; Mengjie Zhang
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Meta-Black-Box Optimization (MetaBBO) garners attention due to its success in automating the configuration and generation of black-box optimizers, significantly reducing the human effort required for optimizer design and discovering optimizers with higher performance than classic human-designed optimizers. However, existing MetaBBO methods conduct one-off training under the assumption that a stationary problem distribution with extensive and representative training problem samples is pre-available. This assumption is often impractical in real-world scenarios, where diverse problems following shifting distribution continually arise. Consequently, there is a pressing need for methods that can continuously learn from new problems encountered on-the-fly and progressively enhance their capabilities. In this work, we explore a novel paradigm of lifelong learning in MetaBBO and introduce LiBOG, a novel approach designed to learn from sequentially encountered problems and generate high-performance optimizers for Black-Box Optimization (BBO). LiBOG consolidates knowledge both across tasks and within tasks to mitigate catastrophic forgetting. Extensive experiments demonstrate LiBOG's effectiveness in learning to generate high-performance optimizers in a lifelong learning manner, addressing catastrophic forgetting while maintaining plasticity to learn new tasks.
A Theoretical Perspective on Why Stochastic Population Update Needs an Archive in Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization
Authors: Shengjie Ren; Zimin Liang; Miqing Li; Chao Qian
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been widely applied to multi-objective optimization due to their population-based nature. Population update, a key component in multi-objective EAs (MOEAs), is usually performed in a greedy, deterministic manner. However, recent studies have questioned this practice and shown that stochastic population update (SPU), which allows inferior solutions have a chance to be preserved, can help MOEAs jump out of local optima more easily. Nevertheless, SPU risks losing high-quality solutions, potentially requiring a large population. Intuitively, a possible solution to this issue is to introduce an archive that stores the best solutions ever found. In this paper, we theoretically show that using an archive allows a small population and may enhance the search performance of SPU-based MOEAs. We examine two classic algorithms, SMS-EMOA and NSGA-II, on the bi-objective problem OneJumpZeroJump, and prove that using an archive can reduce the expected running time upper bound (even exponentially). The comparison between SMS-EMOA and NSGA-II also suggests that the (μ+μ) update mode may be more suitable for SPU than the (μ+1) update mode. We also validate our findings empirically. We hope this work may provide theoretical support to explore different ideas of designing algorithms in evolutionary multi-objective optimization.
X-KAN: Optimizing Local Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks via Evolutionary Rule-Based Machine Learning
Authors: Hiroki Shiraishi; Hisao Ishibuchi; Masaya Nakata
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Function approximation is a critical task in various fields. However, existing neural network approaches struggle with locally complex or discontinuous functions due to their reliance on a single global model covering the entire problem space. We propose X-KAN, a novel method that optimizes multiple local Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs) through an evolutionary rule-based machine learning framework called XCSF. X-KAN combines KAN's high expressiveness with XCSF's adaptive partitioning capability by implementing local KAN models as rule consequents and defining local regions via rule antecedents. Our experimental results on artificial test functions and real-world datasets demonstrate that X-KAN significantly outperforms conventional methods, including XCSF, Multi-Layer Perceptron, and KAN, in terms of approximation accuracy. Notably, X-KAN effectively handles functions with locally complex or discontinuous structures that are challenging for conventional KAN, using a compact set of rules (average 7.2 rules). These results validate the effectiveness of using KAN as a local model in XCSF, which evaluates the rule fitness based on both accuracy and generality. Our X-KAN implementation and an extended version of this paper, including appendices, are available at https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2505.14273.
Reinforced In-Context Black-Box Optimization
Authors: Lei Song; Chen-Xiao Gao; Ke Xue; Chenyang Wu; Dong Li; Jianye Hao; Zongzhang Zhang; Chao Qian
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Black-Box Optimization (BBO) has found successful applications in many fields of science and engineering. Recently, there has been a growing interest in meta-learning particular components of BBO algorithms to speed up optimization and get rid of tedious hand-crafted heuristics. As an extension, learning the entire algorithm from data requires the least labor from experts and can provide the most flexibility. In this paper, we propose RIBBO, a method to reinforce-learn a BBO algorithm from offline data in an end-to-end fashion. RIBBO employs expressive sequence models to learn the optimization histories produced by multiple behavior algorithms and tasks, leveraging the in-context learning ability of large models to extract task information and make decisions accordingly. Central to our method is to augment the optimization histories with regret-to-go tokens, which are designed to represent the performance of an algorithm based on cumulative regret over the future part of the histories. The integration of regret-to-go tokens enables RIBBO to automatically generate sequences of query points that are positively correlated to the user-desired regret, verified by its universally good empirical performance on diverse problems, including BBO benchmark, hyper-parameter optimization, and robot control problems.
Set-Based Retrograde Analysis: Precomputing the Solution to 28-card Bridge Double Dummy Deals
Authors: Isaac Stone; Nathan R. Sturtevant; Jonathan Schaeffer
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Among the most popular games played worldwide, Bridge stands out for having had little AI progress for over 25 years. Ginsberg's Partition Search algorithm (1996) was a breakthrough for double-dummy Bridge play, allowing a program to reason about sets of states rather than individual states. Partition Search supports the current state of the art for both bidding and cardplay. In the time since, virtually no progress has been made in Bridge bidding. Inspired by Ginsberg's idea, this paper presents Setrograde Analysis, a new set-based algorithm for perfectly solving Bridge hands. Using this approach, we have solved all 7-trick (28-card) hands — 10^30 states, which can be reduced to 10^17 unique states using preexisting techniques. This was done by considering five orders of magnitude fewer sets than the traditional state-based Retrograde Analysis algorithm. This work suggests that the entire 13-trick (52-card) state space can be solved with modern technology using this new approach. The 7-trick computation represents the largest endgame database to date in any game.
A Novel Local Search Algorithm for the Vertex Bisection Minimization Problem
Authors: Rui Sun; Xinyu Wang; Yiyuan Wang; Jiangnan Li; Yi Zhou
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: The vertex bisection minimization problem (VBMP) is a fundamental graph partitioning problem with numerous real-world applications. In this study, we propose a (k, l, S)-cluster guided local search algorithm to address this challenge. First, we propose a novel (k,l,S)-cluster enumeration procedure, which is based on two key concepts: the (k, l, S)-cluster and the local cluster core. The (k, l, S)-cluster limits both the connectivity and distinct boundaries of a given vertex set, and the local cluster core represents the most cohesive substructure within a (k, l, S)-cluster. Building up on the above (k, l, S)-cluster enumeration procedure, we present a novel (k, l, S)-cluster guided perturbation mechanism designed to escape from local optima. Next, we propose a two-manner local search procedure that employs two distinct search models to explore the neighboring search space efficiently. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm performs best on nearly all instances.
NuMDS: An Efficient Local Search Algorithm for Minimum Dominating Set Problem
Authors: Rui Sun; Zhaohui Liu; Yiyuan Wang; Han Xiao; Jiangnan Li; Jiejiang Chen
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: The minimum dominating set (MDS) problem is a crucial NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with wide applications in real-world scenarios. In this paper, we propose an efficient local search algorithm namely NuMDS to solve the MDS, which comprises three key ideas. First, we introduce a dominate propagation-based reduction method that fixes a portion of vertices in a given graph. Second, we develop a novel two-phase initialization method based on the decomposition method. Third, we propose a multi-stage local search procedure, which adopts three different search manners according to the current stage of the search. We conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate the outstanding effectiveness of NuMDS, and the results clearly indicate that NuMDS outperforms previous state-of-the-art algorithms on almost all instances.
InfVC: An Inference-Enhanced Local Search Algorithm for the Minimum Vertex Cover Problem in Massive Graphs
Authors: Rui Sun; Peiyan Liu; Yiyuan Wang; Zhaohui Liu; Liping Du; Jian Gao
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: The minimum vertex cover (MVC) problem is a classic NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with extensive real-world applications. In this paper, we propose an efficient local search algorithm, InfVC, to solve the MVC in massive graphs, which comprises three ideas. First, we introduce an inference-driven optimization strategy that explores better feasible solutions through inference rules. Second, we develop a structural-determined perturbation strategy that is motivated by the structure features of high-quality solutions, prioritizing high-degree vertices into the candidate solution to guide the search process to some potential high-quality search area. Third, we design a self-adaptive local search framework that dynamically balances exploration and exploitation through a perturbation management mechanism. Extensive experiments demonstrate that InfVC outperforms all the state-of-the-art algorithms on almost massive instances.
Bidirectional Search while Ensuring Meet-In-The-Middle via Effective and Efficient-to-Compute Termination Conditions
Authors: Yi Wang; Eyal Weiss; Bingxian Mu; Oren Salzman
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: In bidirectional heuristic search, the meeting-in-the-middle property (MMP) and the theory of must-expand pairs (MEP) have driven significant recent developments in search efficiency. However, these methodologies typically terminate the search based on minimal priority metrics in the forward and backward open lists, requiring exploration of all potentially better solutions and potentially incurring substantial computational burden. In this paper, we investigate the reasons that contribute to the potential inefficiency in MM , and introduce a tighter termination condition that enables earlier termination without exhaustive exploration while still ensuring both MMP and optimality. This results in a highly efficient bidirectional search algorithm. Experimental comparisons demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms MM in terms of running time by at least two orders of magnitude and is on par or better compared to A*, highlighting its potential in a wide range of applications.
Inferring Causal Protein Signaling Networks with Reinforcement Learning via Artificial Bee Colony Neural Architecture Search
Authors: Jihao Zhai; Junzhong Ji; Jinduo Liu
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: Inferring causal protein signaling networks from human immune system cellular data is an important approach to reveal underlying tissue signaling biology and dysfunction in diseased cells. In recent years, reinforcement learning (RL) methods have shown excellent performance in the field of causal protein signaling network inference. However, the complexity of RL models and the need for manual hyperparameter tuning can hinder performance. In this paper, we propose a actor-critic RL model via artificial bee colony (ABC) neural architecture search, called ABCNAS-RL. Specifically, the entire method is divided into two phases: ABC neural architecture search and actor-critic RL search. In phase one, we represent each bee as a set of hyperparameter, utilizing the ABC algorithm searching for optimal hyperparameters of the actor-critic RL model on the training set. In phase two, we use the actor-critic RL model to infer the causal protein signaling network on the test set. The actor network consists of an encoder-decoder architecture, composed of a transformer and a bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU) with an integrated attention mechanism. The critic network consists of a fully connected neural network that estimates the output state of the actor network. By maximizing cumulative rewards, we ultimately derive the causal protein signaling network. Extensive experimental results on simulated and real datasets verify that ABCNAS-RL outperforms the comparison methods and has superior performance.
A Weighted-Based Fast Local Search for α-Neighbor p-Center Problem
Authors: Qingyun Zhang; Zhipeng Lü; Junwen Ding; Zhouxing Su
Venue: IJCAI 2025 (main)

Abstract: The α-neighbor p-center problem (α-pCP) is an extension of the classical p-center problem. It aims to select p centers from a set of candidate centers to minimize the maximum distance between any client and its α service centers. In this paper, we propose a weighting-based fast local search algorithm called WFLS for solving α-pCP. First, WFLS converts the complex α-pCP into a series of decision subproblems by specifying the service radius, effectively mitigating the gradient vanishing issue during the search process, and introduces a new MIP model. Then, it addresses the simpliffed subproblems using a fast local search procedure with a swap-based neighborhood structure. WFLS adopts an efffcient weighting strategy, an incremental evaluation technique, a reffned-grained penaltybased neighborhood evaluation, and two scoring functions of neighborhood evaluation to accelerate and guide the search process. Computational experiments on 154 widely used public benchmark instances demonstrate that WFLS outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in the literature. Speciffcally, WFLS improves 69 previous best known results and matches the best know results for all the remaining ones in less time than other competitors.