This paper introduces drift analysis and its applications in estimating average computation time of evolutionary algorithms. Firstly, drift conditions for estimating upper and lower bounds of the mean first hitting times of evolutionary algorithms are presented. Then drift analysis is applied to two specific evolutionary algorithms and problems. Finally, a general classification of easy and hard problems for evolutionary algorithms is given based on the analysis.
['Jun He', 'Xin Yao']
A study of drift analysis for estimating computation time of evolutionary algorithms