New loss function optimization improves training speed and accuracy.
problem Optimizing neural network performance through loss functions.
method Genetic Loss-function Optimization (GLO) using genetic programming and CMA-ES.
result GLO loss functions lead to better performance with fewer training steps.
CoNES optimizes blackbox functions using convex optimization and information geometry.
problem Optimizing high-dimensional blackbox functions efficiently.
method Formulated as a convex program that adapts evolutionary strategies gradient estimates.
result Vastly outperforms conventional blackbox optimization methods on benchmarks and MuJoCo tasks.
CMA-ME combines CMA-ES and MAP-Elites for better quality and diversity in continuous domains.
problem Finding a diverse set of high-quality solutions in complex continuous domains.
method Combines CMA-ES self-adaptation with MAP-Elites archiving and mapping.
result CMA-ME outperforms MAP-Elites in both quality and diversity of solutions.
Trading strategies evolve in a simulated market to outperform real data.
problem Creating profitable trading strategies in diverse market conditions.
method Agent-based model of heterogeneous agents evolving deep neural networks.
result Elite trading algorithms outperform in real high-frequency foreign exchange data.
Gradients help find global optima in complex functions.
problem Finding global optima in functions with many local minima.
method A principle for generating search directions from non-local quadratic approximants based on gradients.
result The proposed algorithm and CMA-ES perform better than random reinitialized BFGS.
Evolution and learning are two of the fundamental mechanisms by which life adapts in order to survive and to transcend limitations. These biological phenomena inspired successful computational methods such as evolutionary algorithms and deep learning. Evolution relies on random mutations and on random genetic recombina…
An evolutionary game model analyzes e-commerce and traditional retail trends during the pandemic.
problem Understanding the dynamics between e-commerce and traditional retail during the pandemic.
method Developed an evolutionary game model to study consumer-producer interactions on e-commerce platforms.
result Investment in logistics and warehouses in e-commerce led to faster delivery and consumer trends.
Model financial network dynamics to avoid systemic risk.
problem Avoid systemic risk in financial networks.
method Model financial network as random liability graph, agents adapt strategies based on learning, analyze using ODE.
result Emerging strategies converge to evolutionary stable strategies (all risky or all less risky agents).
Paper improves deep learning for solving evolutionary equations with trainable hard constraints.
problem Low computational accuracy of standard PINNs in large temporal domains.
method Sequential learning strategies and trainable influence functions for hard constraints.
result Significantly improved computational accuracy and universality of the method.
Contextual policy search (CPS) is a class of multi-task reinforcement learning algorithms that is particularly useful for robotic applications. A recent state-of-the-art method is Contextual Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategies (C-CMA-ES). It is based on the standard black-box optimization algorithm CMA-ES…
Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) is a highly popular model-free reinforcement learning (RL) approach. However, we observe that in a continuous action space, PPO can prematurely shrink the exploration variance, which leads to slow progress and may make the algorithm prone to getting stuck in local optima. Drawing insp…
We consider a heterogeneous agent-based economic model where economic agents have strictly bounded rationality and where income allocation strategies evolve through selective imitation. Income is calculated by a Cobb-Douglas type production function, and selection of strategies for imitation depends on the income growt…
Novel evolutionary strategy solves stochastic constrained optimization problems.
problem Optimizing objective functions with stochastic constraints in reinforcement learning.
method Design of a novel optimization algorithm with a sufficient decrease mechanism for stochastic constrained problems.
result Demonstrated convergence of the algorithm on control tasks and constrained optimization problems.
Novel method for high-dimensional BO using CMA to define local regions.
problem Challenges in applying BO to high-dimensional optimization problems.
method CMA strategy to learn search distribution and define local regions.
result Our method outperforms existing techniques on various benchmarks.
We study the problem of estimating from data, a sparse approximation to the inverse covariance matrix. Estimating a sparsity constrained inverse covariance matrix is a key component in Gaussian graphical model learning, but one that is numerically very challenging. We address this challenge by developing a new adaptive…
This tutorial introduces the CMA Evolution Strategy (ES), where CMA stands for Covariance Matrix Adaptation. The CMA-ES is a stochastic, or randomized, method for real-parameter (continuous domain) optimization of non-linear, non-convex functions. We try to motivate and derive the algorithm from intuitive concepts and …
Evolutionary Strategies optimize hyper-parameters for off-policy learning.
problem Hyper-parameter sensitivity in off-policy learning.
method Application of Evolutionary Strategies for online hyper-parameter tuning.
result Our method outperforms state-of-the-art baselines.
evo-RL combines evolutionary computation with reinforcement learning for better adaptability.
problem Improving reinforcement learning algorithms' adaptability and performance in environments with rewardless states.
method Embedding reinforcement learning in an evolutionary cycle, distinguishing instinctive from learnable behavior.
result evo-RL leads to state-of-the-art performance on OpenAI Gym control problems with rewardless states.
Many applications in machine learning require optimizing a function whose true gradient is unknown, but where surrogate gradient information (directions that may be correlated with, but not necessarily identical to, the true gradient) is available instead. This arises when an approximate gradient is easier to compute t…
We present an off-policy actor-critic algorithm for Reinforcement Learning (RL) that combines ideas from gradient-free optimization via stochastic search with learned action-value function. The result is a simple procedure consisting of three steps: i) policy evaluation by estimating a parametric action-value function;…
In many practical applications of clustering, the objects to be clustered evolve over time, and a clustering result is desired at each time step. In such applications, evolutionary clustering typically outperforms traditional static clustering by producing clustering results that reflect long-term trends while being ro…
Trend-following strategies outperform in a noisy financial market, mirroring ancient wisdom.
problem Navigating the complex, noisy financial market environment.
method Agent-based model with 10,000 agents representing different trading strategies.
result Trend-following strategies are structurally more robust than mean-reversion strategies.
LRSAO uses RL to dynamically select and unlearn auxiliary objectives for EA optimization.
problem Optimizing complex landscapes with evolutionary algorithms.
method Local Reinforcement Learning (RL) to dynamically select and unlearn auxiliary objectives.
result Improved optimization complexity from O(n2log(n)/ℓ) to Θ(n2/ℓ2+nlog(n)). Evolutionary algorithms improve decision tree ensembles.
problem Improving predictive performance of decision trees.
method Real-valued vector representation of decision trees, evolutionary algorithms (Differential evolution, Evolution strategies).
result Proposed methods outperform classical decision tree induction algorithms.
New method estimates portfolio turnover using covariance matrix of returns.
problem Effective estimation of portfolio turnover for algorithmic trading strategies.
method Developed a mathematical model based on covariance matrix of returns.
result Proved a necessary condition for model applicability and suggested new estimations.
The last financial and economic crisis demonstrated the dysfunctional long-term effects of aggressive behaviour in financial markets. Yet, evolutionary game theory predicts that under the condition of strategic dependence a certain degree of aggressive behaviour remains within a given population of agents. However, as …
MadEvolve optimizes trading algorithms using LLMs, achieving significant improvements in feature generation and trading strategy optimization.
problem Optimizing trading algorithms for better performance and feature generation.
method A framework inspired by Alpha-Evolve, using LLMs to evolve trading strategies and feature pipelines.
result Significant improvements in trading performance across various tasks, including feature generation and trading strategy optimization.
Enhanced evolutionary algorithms solve NP-hard portfolio optimization with cardinality constraints.
problem Portfolio optimization under cardinality constraints with real-world conditions.
method Strengthened multi-objective evolutionary algorithms with new representations, operators, and repair mechanisms.
result The proposed algorithms converge faster and provide better approximations with no performance loss.
In this paper we apply evolutionary optimization techniques to compute optimal rule-based trading strategies based on financial sentiment data. The sentiment data was extracted from the social media service StockTwits to accommodate the level of bullishness or bearishness of the online trading community towards certain…
Model financial network dynamics to avoid systemic risk.
problem Emergence of systemic risk in financial networks.
method Derive solutions of random fixed point equations, analyze replicator dynamics, derive conditions for evolutionary stable strategies, verify with simulations.
result Emerging strategies converge to an attractor of an ODE, avoiding systemic risk.
Model shows how heterogeneity in strategies and risk tolerance affects financial market stability.
problem Understanding how heterogeneity impacts financial market dynamics.
method Agent-based model incorporating heterogeneous investment strategies and risk tolerance.
result Heterogeneity in strategies and risk tolerance suppresses price fluctuations.
EPC curriculum improves MARL performance as agent population grows.
problem Challenges in learning good policies for large multi-agent systems.
method Evolutionary Population Curriculum (EPC) for scaling MARL.
result EPC consistently outperforms baselines as agent population increases.
Evolutionary strategy optimizes quantum circuit design and parameters.
problem Optimizing quantum circuit design and parameters for NISQ devices.
method Simple evolutionary strategy to optimize both circuit architecture and parameters.
result Minor slowdown on actual quantum hardware compared to simulations, with insights into mutation operations.
Evolutionary algorithm finds optimal pixel perturbations to improve neural network generalization.
problem Minimal data corruption by pixel modifications causes overfitting in neural networks.
method Evolutionary algorithm with a novel cost function to maximize generalization gap and domain divergence.
result Method outperforms previous pixel-based data distribution shift methods on CNNs.
We propose a population-based Evolutionary Stochastic Gradient Descent (ESGD) framework for optimizing deep neural networks. ESGD combines SGD and gradient-free evolutionary algorithms as complementary algorithms in one framework in which the optimization alternates between the SGD step and evolution step to improve th…
Exact risk and learning rate curves derived for adaptive SGD on high-dimensional problems.
problem Analyzing risk and learning rate dynamics in high-dimensional optimization problems.
method Developed a framework to give exact expressions for risk and learning rate curves using ODEs.
result Exact expressions for risk and learning rate curves, with detailed analysis of two adaptive learning rates.
CR-FM-NES improves NES for high-dimensional optimization.
problem High-dimensional black-box optimization problems.
method CR-FM-NES extends FM-NES with a restricted covariance matrix representation.
result CR-FM-NES achieves significant speedup in high-dimensional problems.
Simplicial learning improves classification by generating compact sparse representations.
problem Difficulty in distinguishing classes on the same subspace.
method Evolutionary simplicial learning approach to sparse representations.
result Evolutionary simplicial learning outperforms other methods in multi-class classification.
NHC learns scalable algorithmic solutions from diverse tasks.
problem Neural networks struggle to learn algorithmic strategies.
method Memory-augmented network with abstraction mechanism and evolutionary training.
result Reliable learning of robust and scalable algorithmic solutions.
Develops a new GLM framework for claims reserving with adaptive estimation.
problem Accurate assessment of claims reserves with dynamic and dependent claim activity.
method Multivariate evolutionary GLM framework with adaptive particle filtering algorithm.
result Adaptive estimation of evolving factors improves claims reserve accuracy.
A hybrid method improves Convolutional Neural Networks training.
problem Training Convolutional Neural Networks efficiently and avoiding local minima.
method Combines backpropagation with evolutionary strategies.
result Improves accuracy by 0.61% on CIFAR-10 image classification.
The paper proposes AIS for Bayesian inversion of multioutput signals with covariance estimation.
problem Performing uncertainty analysis of covariance matrices in Bayesian inversion problems for multioutput signals.
method Adaptive Importance Sampling (AIS) scheme, split variables, frequentist approach for noise covariance, prior density over covariance matrix.
result Estimation of model parameters and covariance matrix of noise.
EPNE models evolving network patterns for better predictions.
problem Capturing evolving patterns in dynamic networks.
method EPNE models temporal network evolution using causal convolutions and a temporal objective function.
result EPNE outperforms other methods in various prediction tasks.
In this article, we present the elitist particle filter based on evolutionary strategies (EPFES) as an efficient approach for nonlinear system identification. The EPFES is derived from the frequently-employed state-space model, where the relevant information of the nonlinear system is captured by an unknown state vecto…
A new covariance estimator reduces dimensionality and improves portfolio forecasting.
problem Estimating high-dimensional covariance matrices with weak factors.
method Sparse Approximate Factor (SAF) model with l1-regularization. result SAF estimator outperforms other methods in portfolio forecasting.
ESPD improves learning efficiency in sparse reward reinforcement learning.
problem Sparse reward reinforcement learning challenges.
method Evolutionary Stochastic Policy Distillation (ESPD) based on drifted random walk insight.
result High learning efficiency demonstrated in MuJoCo robotics control suite experiments.
CRATOS clusters time series for efficient anomaly detection.
problem No clear boundary between normal and anomalous behaviors in time series.
method CRATOS clusters time series, then uses evolutionary algorithms to find best anomaly detection methods.
result Significantly reduces development and maintenance costs of anomaly detection.
Linear and Quadratic Discriminant analysis (LDA/QDA) are common tools for classification problems. For these methods we assume observations are normally distributed within group. We estimate a mean and covariance matrix for each group and classify using Bayes theorem. With LDA, we estimate a single, pooled covariance m…