Sample thesis 2 - Natural Computing Group, LIACS, Leiden University

As we are not satisfied with the current state of the code base, we feel it adds very little value toinclude a comparative analysis between different runs with different parameters. What we canreport is the following: Up until the amount of 11 squares we have at some point producedconfigurations with the same radius as the best known solutions. For 12 and 13 squares we have atsome point produced configurations that resembled the best known solutions, but we did not getmore than 2 digits behind the decimal point correct. An indication that something was wrong withour ability to zoom in on solutions. For 14 and 15 squares we have produced configurations thatwere good, but not optimal.Figure 8 shows the best solution found for 15 squares. Figure 9 shows the best solution we foundfor 16 squares, and it might or it might not be optimal. Our other results lead us to believe that itcould probably at the very least benefit from further fine tuning. After properly refining it we willreport the coordinates of this new discovery to Erich Friedman.Despite the disappointing results, we most certainly plan to get back to this problem in the future.Perhaps with a more mathematical approach, or with a canonical simulated annealingimplementation.