What is simulated annealing and how does it work?

What is simulated annealing and how does it work?

Simulated annealing is an optimization technique inspired by the annealing process in metallurgy. It helps find a good approximation to the global optimum of a given function.

Can you explain the steps involved in the simulated annealing process?

Sure! The process involves initializing a solution, then iteratively making small changes to the solution while accepting worse solutions with a certain probability to escape local optima.

What are some practical applications of simulated annealing?

Simulated annealing is used in various fields such as operations research, scheduling, and even in machine learning for hyperparameter tuning.

How does the cooling schedule affect the performance of simulated annealing?

The cooling schedule determines how quickly the temperature decreases. A slower cooling schedule allows more exploration of the solution space, potentially leading to better results.