Criteria for an optimum simulated annealing schedule for problems of the travelling salesman type
Simon Rees, R. C. Ball · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General · 1987
The simulated annealing algorithm for optimisation problems such as the travelling salesman problem is reviewed. The concept of the autocorrelation function for cost functions is introduced and it is shown how numerical experiments to measure this quantity can provide criteria as to how rapidly a system can be annealed close to equilibrium. From this the authors obtain an optimum annealing schedule of general applicability.