What is Exploration

Premature convergence occurs in swarm intelligence algorithms searching for optima. A swarm intelligence algorithm has two kinds of abilities: the exploration of new possibilities and the exploitation of old certainties. The exploration ability means that an algorithm can explore more search places to increase the possibility that the algorithm can find good enough solutions. In contrast, the exploitation ability means that an algorithm focuses on the refinement of found promising areas. An algorithm should have a balance between exploration and exploitation, that is, the allocation of computational resources should be optimized to ensure that an algorithm can find good enough solutions effectively. The diversity measures the distribution of individuals' information. From the observation of the distribution and diversity change, the degree of exploration and exploitation can be obtained.