AI engineering glossary · Calculus optimisation
What is simulated annealing?
Simulated annealing: A randomised search that explores solutions by sometimes accepting worse moves with a probability that falls as a temperature parameter is lowered, in analogy with slowly cooling metal. It can escape local minima on non-differentiable problems.
Simulated annealing: an example
When routing a delivery tour, a swap that lengthens the route by 2 km may be accepted early in the search but almost never near the end.
Related terms
More Calculus optimisation terms
- Stationary point
- Step decay
- Stochastic gradient descent
- Strong convexity
- Subgradient
- Subgradient method
- Sum rule
- Symbolic differentiation
Where you learn it
Simulated annealing is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.