Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M10614

Simulated Annealing

Simulated Annealing
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

A stochastic optimization algorithm inspired by metal annealing, which accepts inferior solutions with a controlled probability to escape local optima, eventually converging to the global optimum.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

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Simulated annealing (SA) is a probabilistic technique for approximating the global optimum of a given function. Specifically, it is a metaheuristic to approximate global optimization in a large search space for an optimization problem. For large numbers of local optima, SA can find the global optimu…

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Using metal annealing as a metaphor: at high temperatures, the probability of accepting inferior solutions is high (according to exp(-ΔE/T)), facilitating escape from local optima; as the 'temperature' T decreases, the acceptance probability of inferior solutions decreases, gradually converging. The Metropolis criterion controls the acceptance probability.

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulated_annealingZH · Explicit
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