On the Cooperation of Multiple Indicator-based Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms

In recent years, several indicator-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (IB-MOEAs) have been proposed. Each IB-MOEA presents different search preferences depending on the quality indicator (QI) that it uses in its selection mechanism. However, due to these search biases, IB-MOEAs behave differently on each multi-objective optimization problem, producing Pareto front approximations whose characteristics are related to the QI on which they are based. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm based on the island model that aims to take advantage of the cooperation of individual IB-MOEAs based on the indicators hypervolume, R2, IGD ⁺ , ⁺ , and Δ _p with the aim of improving both convergence and distribution of the Pareto fronts produced. Our experimental results, taking into account seven quality indicators, empirically show that the cooperation of several IB-MOEAs is better than using panmictic versions of them. Additionally, we also show that the performance of our proposal does not depend on the Pareto front shape of the problem being solved.