Forma Analysis of Permutation Random Keys

Random keys are a common approach to the representation of permutations in evolutionary algorithms. This paper makes use of forma analysis, a powerful tool for the study of representations and operators used in evolutionary algorithms. Using forma analysis, it shall be argued that this approach, by abstracting away problem structure, can be improved by approaches where the structures they manipulate map more directly onto the problem domain. The arguments presented here are supported by an empirical study of the flowshop sequencing problem