Signal, noise, and genetic algorithms

Signal, noise, and the signal-to-noise ratio are defined, and a Walsh basis expression is derived for each. Signal is a measure of the force tending towards convergence within a competition partition. Noise is a measure of the force preventing the partition's signal from having effect. The signal-to-noise ratio is a measure reconciling these antagonistic effects. The conjecture is made that the relative magnitudes of signal and noise determine the degree to which convergence occurs in each competition partition.