A
genetic algorithm or
evolutionary algorithm
which includes a non-genetic local search to improve
genotypes. The term comes from the Richard Dawkin's term
"
meme".
One big difference between memes and genes is that memes are
processed and possibly improved by the people that hold them -
something that cannot happen to genes. It is this advantage
that the memetic algorithm has over simple genetic or
evolutionary algorithms.
These algorithms are useful in solving complex problems, such
as the "
Travelling Salesman Problem," which involves finding
the shortest path through a large number of nodes, or in
creating
artificial life to test evolutionary theories.
Memetic algorithms are one kind of
metaheuristic.
UNLP memetic algorithms home page.