Fundamentals of scatter search and path relinking

The evolutionary approach called Scatter Search, and its generalized form called Path Relinking, proved to be unusually effective for solving a diverse array of optimisation problems. Scatter Search and Path Relinking differ from other evolutionary procedures, such as genetic algorithms, by providing unifying principles for joining solutions based on generalised path constructions (in both Euclidean and neighbourhood spaces) and by utilising strategic designs where other approaches resort to randomisation. Scatter Search and Path Relinking are also intimately related to the Tabu Search metaheuristic and derive additional advantages from the use of adaptive memory and associated memory-exploiting mechanisms that can be adapted to particular contexts.