Hybrid periodic boundary condition for particle swarm optimization

We propose a new boundary condition for the particle swarm optimization (PSO) method. The new boundary is duped periodic boundary condition (PBC) and is inspired by a molecular dynamics (MD) formulation of the PSO. Based on this formulation, the PBC is introduced formally by postulating that the swarm environment is similar to crystal-bulk materials studied using MD. A combination of soft and hard boundary modes is employed in the implementation of the hybrid version of the proposed PBC. The hybrid PBC constitutes a substantial alteration of the original scenario assumed in theoretical physics but is allowed here to suite the PSO environment. When applied to standard test functions and the practical problem of linear antenna array synthesis, the hybrid PBC proved to be superior to previously established boundary conditions.