Current Challenges of Symbolic Regression: Optimization, Selection, Model Simplification, and Benchmarking

Created by W.Langdon from gp-bibliography.bib Revision:1.8721

@PhdThesis{Aldeia:thesis,

• author = "Guilherme Seidyo Imai Aldeia",
• title = "Current Challenges of Symbolic Regression: Optimization, Selection, Model Simplification, and Benchmarking",
• school = "Computer Science of the Federal University of ABC",
• year = "2025",
• address = "Santo Andre, Sao Paulo, Brazil",
• month = "1 " # dec,
• keywords = "genetic algorithms, genetic programming, symbolic regression, simplification, e-lexicase selection, non-linear optimization, multi-objective optimization, ITEA, FEAT, Pareto, MOGP, NSGA2, PTC2",
• URL = "https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.01682",
• size = "192 pages",
• abstract = "Symbolic Regression (SR) is a regression method that aims to discover mathematical expressions that describe the relationship between variables, and it is often implemented through Genetic Programming, a metaphor for the process of biological evolution. Its appeal lies in combining predictive accuracy with interpretable models, but its promise is limited by several long-standing challenges: parameters are difficult to optimize, the selection of solutions can affect the search, and models often grow unnecessarily complex. In addition, current methods must be constantly re-evaluated to understand the SR landscape. This thesis addresses these challenges through a sequence of studies conducted throughout the doctorate, each focusing on an important aspect of the SR search process. First, I investigate parameter optimization, obtaining insights into its role in improving predictive accuracy, albeit with trade-offs in runtime and expression size. Next, I study parent selection, exploring epsilon-lexicase to select parents more likely to generate good performing offspring. The focus then turns to simplification, where I introduce a novel method based on memoization and locality-sensitive hashing that reduces redundancy and yields simpler, more accurate models. All of these contributions are implemented into a multi-objective evolutionary SR library, which achieves Pareto-optimal performance in terms of accuracy and simplicity on benchmarks of real-world and synthetic problems, outperforming several contemporary SR approaches. The thesis concludes by proposing changes to a famous large-scale symbolic regression benchmark suite, then running the experiments to assess the symbolic regression landscape, demonstrating that a SR method with the contributions presented in this thesis achieves Pareto-optimal performance.",
• notes = "Supervisor: Fabricio Olivetti de Franca and William La Cava",

}

Genetic Programming entries for Guilherme Seidyo Imai Aldeia

Citations