Theoretical Aspects of Evolutionary Computing

During the first week of September 1999, the Second EvoNet Summer School on Theoretical Aspects of Evolutionary Computing was held at the Middelheim cam- pus of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Originally intended as a small get- together of PhD students interested in the theory of evolutionary computing, the summer school grew to become a successful combination of a four-day workshop with over twenty researchers in the field and a two-day lecture series open to a wider audience. This book is based on the lectures and workshop contributions of this summer school. Its first part consists of tutorial papers which introduce the reader to a num- ber of important directions in the theory of evolutionary computing. The tutorials are at graduate level andassume only a basic backgroundin mathematics and com- puter science. No prior knowledge ofevolutionary computing or its theory is nec- essary. The second part of the book consists of technical papers, selected from the workshop contributions. A number of them build on the material of the tutorials, exploring the theory to research level. Other technical papers may require a visit to the library.