Optimization using a host-parasite model with variable-size distributed populations

This paper presents a model of coevolution between two variable-size, spatially distributed populations, evolving in an environment with a flow of resources. The two populations have a host-parasite relationship where the host species is dependent on the uptake of resources from the environment for their reproduction. The parasites seek to “infect” host organisms and parasitize on their resources to produce parasite offspring. We show how the approach can be used for optimization tasks by using instances of the problem task to determine the outcome of each interaction between a host and a parasite organism. As an initial test of the model, we apply it to the problem of designing sorting networks for several problem sizes: 6, 7, 8, and 9-input