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Although Geman & Geman's result may seem like a rather weak statement,
guaranteeing a statistically optimal solution for arbitrary
problems is something no other optimization technique can claim.
Simulated annealing:
- can deal with arbitrary systems and cost functions
- statistically guarantees finding an optimal solution
- is relatively easy to code, even for complex problems
- generally gives a ``good'' solution
This makes S.A. an attractive option for optimization problems where
heuristic (specialized or problem specific) methods are not available.
Paul Coddington, Northeast Parallel Architectures Center at Syracuse University, paulc@npac.syr.edu