The Process
For EP, like GAs, there is an underlying assumption that a FITNESS
landscape can be characterized in terms of variables, and that there
is an optimum solution (or multiple such optima) in terms of those
variables. For example, if one were trying to find the shortest path
in a Traveling Salesman Problem, each solution would be a path. The
length of the path could be expressed as a number, which would serve
as the solution's fitness. The fitness landscape for this problem
could be characterized as a hypersurface proportional to the path
lengths in a space of possible paths. The goal would be to find the
globally shortest path in that space, or more practically, to find
very short tours very quickly.
The basic EP method involves 3 steps (Repeat until a threshold for
iteration is exceeded or an adequate solution is obtained):