A Note on the Maximum Missed-opportunity Cost Incurred by Minimizing Expected Losses in Genetic Algorithms

The foundational analysis of genetic algorithms in terms of sampling from schemata relies on minimizing expected losses. This criterion does not correspond with the problem of finding the single solution to a problem that affords the best quality. Analysis developed here indicates the maximum cost that might be realized by a search strategy that minimizes expected losses when sampling from non-negative random variables.