It is important to know the properties of an optimization problem and the difficulty an algorithm faces to solve it. Population evolvability obtains information related to both elements by analysing the probability of an algorithm to improve current solutions and the degree of those improvements. DPEM_HH is a dynamic multi-objective hyper-heuristic that uses low-level heuristic (LLH) selection methods that apply population evolvability. DPEM_HH uses dynamic multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (DMOEAs) as LLHs to solve dynamic multi-objective optimization problems (DMOPs). Population evolvability is incorporated in DPEM_HH by calculating it on each candidate DMOEA for a set of sampled generations after a change is detected, using those values to select which LLH will be applied. DPEM_HH is tested on multiple DMOPs with dynamic properties that provide several challenges. Experimental results show that DPEM_HH with a greedy LLH selection method that uses average population evolvability values can produce solutions closer to the Pareto optimal front with equal to or better diversity than previously proposed heuristics. This shows the effectiveness and feasibility of the application of population evolvability on hyperheuristics to solve dynamic optimization problems.

This paper proposes a hybrid harmony search algorithm that incorporates a method of reinitializing harmonies memory using a particle swarm optimization algorithm with an improved opposition-based learning method (IOBL) to solve continuous optimization problems. This method allows the algorithm to obtain better results by increasing the search space of the solutions. This approach has been validated by comparing the performance of the proposed algorithm with that of a state-of-the-art harmony search algorithm, solving fifteen standard mathematical functions, and applying the Wilcoxon parametric test at a 5% significance level. The state-of-the-art algorithm uses an opposition-based improvement method (IOBL). Computational experiments show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithm. In quality, it is better in fourteen of the fifteen instances, and in efficiency is better in seven of fifteen instances.