Grey Wolf Optimizer

The GWO [27] [27] Mirjalili S, Mirjalili SM and Lewis A. Grey wolf optimizer. Adv Eng Softw 2014; 69: 46–
61. is inspired by the social hierarchy and hunting behavior of gray wolves. To mimic the social
hierarchy of gray wolves when developing the GWO, the fittest solution is regarded as the alpha
(α ) wolf. In addition, the second and third best solutions are expressed as the beta ( β ) and delta (
δ ) wolves, respectively. The remaining candidate solutions are deemed as the omega (ω) wolves.
Of particular interest is that they have a very strict social dominant hierarchy, as presented in Fig.
1. The search (hunt) process is guided by α , β , and δ , which are concomitantly followed by the
ω wolves. According to Muro et al. [47] [47] Muro C, Escobedo R, Spector L, Coppinger R. Wolf-pack
(Canis lupus) hunting strategies emerge from simple rules in computational simulations. Behav Process

2011;88:192–7. the main phases of grey wolf hunting are as follows:

 Tracking, chasing, and approaching the prey.

 Pursuing, encircling, and harassing the prey until it stops moving.
 Attack towards the prey.

These steps are shown in Fig. 2. In this work this hunting technique and the social
hierarchy of grey wolves are mathematically modeled in order to design GWO and perform
optimization. Gray wolves habitually encircle prey during the hunt. The equations that simulate
this encircling behavior are presented as follows
D=|C ∙ X p ( t )− X (t)| (1)

X ( t+ 1 )=X p ( t )− A ∙ D (2)

where t denotes the current iteration, X p represents the position vector of the prey, and X
represents the position vector of a gray wolf. A and C are coefficient vectors that are calculated
from the following equations
A=2∙ a ∙ r 1−a (3)

C=2 ∙r 2 (4)
where the elements of a are linearly decreased from 2 to 0 during the search process, and r 1 and
r 2 are random vectors in the interval [0, 1]. As the position of the optimum (prey) in an abstract
search space is not known, the GWO supposes that the α , β ,∧δ wolves have better knowledge
of the location of the prey. An example of possible positions of a grey wolf with respect to a prey
is shown in Fig. 3.
In the GWO, the potential solutions are required to update their positions according to the
positions of α , β ,∧δ , using the formulas given below
D α =|C1 ∙ X α ( t )−X ( t)|

D β=|C2 ∙ X β ( t )−X (t)| (5)

Dδ =|C 3 ∙ X δ ( t )−X (t )|

X 1 =X α ( t )− A 1 ∙ Dα
X 2 =X β ( t )− A 2 ∙ D β (6)
X 3 =X δ ( t )− A3 ∙ D δ

X1+ X2+ X3
X ( t+ 1 )= (7)
3
The GWO starts with a random population of gray wolves and is easy to implement
because of its simple parameters and simple mechanism. Fig. 4 shows how a search agent
updates its position according to alpha, beta, and delta in a 2D search space. It can be observed
that the final position would be in a random place within a circle which is defined by the
positions of alpha, beta, and delta in the search space. In other words alpha, beta, and delta
estimate the position of the prey, and other wolves updates their positions randomly around the
prey.
Fig. 1. Hierarchy of grey wolf (dominance decreases from top down).
 Fig. 2. Hunting behavior of grey wolves: (A) chasing, approaching, and tracking prey (B–D)
pursuiting, harassing, and encircling (E) stationary situation and attack [47].

Fig. 3. How the mathematical equations allow position updating around a pivot point. Eq. 1
mathematically models the position updating of a grey wolf (X(t)) around a prey (Xp). epending
on the distance between the wolf and the prey (D), a wolf can be relocated in a circle (in a 2D
space), sphere (in a 3D space), or a hypersphere (in an N-D space) around the prey (Xp) using
Eq. 1
Fig. 4. Position updading in GWO.