simulated annealing

simulated annealing (usually uncountable, plural simulated annealings)

1. A randomized improvement algorithm, analogous to the metalworking process of annealing.

   For this problem, the simulated annealing-based heuristic provides a near-optimal solution.

• Parthasarathy, S. and Chandrasekharan Rajendran, "A simulated annealing heuristic for scheduling to minimize mean weighted tardiness in a flowshop with mean weighted tardiness in a flowshop with sequence-dependent setup times of jobs—a case study". Production Planning & Control, 1997, vol 8, no. 5, page 476.