A hybrid differential evolution based on gaining‑sharing knowledge algorithm and harris hawks optimization

Differential evolution (DE) is favored by scholars for its simplicity and efficiency, but its ability to balance exploration and exploitation needs to be enhanced. In this paper, a hybrid differential evolution with gaining-sharing knowledge algorithm (GSK) and harris hawks optimization (HHO) is proposed, abbreviated as DEGH. Its main contribution lies are as follows. First, a hybrid mutation operator is constructed in DEGH, in which the two-phase strategy of GSK, the classical mutation operator “rand/1” of DE and the soft besiege rule of HHO are used and improved, forming a double-insurance mechanism for the balance between exploration and exploitation. Second, a novel crossover probability self-adaption strategy is proposed to strengthen the internal relation among mutation, crossover and selection of DE. On this basis, the crossover probability and scaling factor jointly affect the evolution of each individual, thus making the proposed algorithm can better adapt to various optimization problems. In addition, DEGH is compared with eight state-of-the-art DE algorithms on 32 benchmark functions. Experimental results show that the proposed DEGH algorithm is significantly superior to the compared algorithms.