Principal components analysis by the galaxy-based search algorithm: a novel metaheuristic for continuous optimisation

In this paper, the principal components analysis (PCA) is formulated as a continuous optimisation problem. Then, a novel metaheuristic inspired from nature is employed to explore the search space for the optimum solution to the PCA problem. The new metaheuristic is called 'galaxy-based search algorithm' or 'GbSA'. The GbSA imitates the spiral arm of spiral galaxies to search its surrounding. This spiral movement is enhanced by chaos to escape from local optimums. A local search algorithm is also utilised to adjust the solution obtained by the spiral movement of the GbSA. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed GbSA for the PCA or GbSA-PCA is a promising tool for the PCA estimation.