A multi-start quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm for solving combinatorial optimization problems

Quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithms (QIEAs), as a subset of evolutionary computation, are based on the principles of quantum computing such as quantum bits and quantum superposition. In this paper, we propose a multi-start quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm, called MSQIEA. To improve the performance of the algorithm, a multi-measurement operator and a new strategy for updating the rotation angle is proposed. When Q-bit individuals start to converge to their final states, the best solution is stored and all Q-bits in each Q-bit individual are reinitialized. We compare the effectiveness of MSQIEA with a popular quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm, called QEA, for solving 0-1 knapsack problem. The experimental results show that MSQIEA outperforms QEA and finds a solution with higher profit.