The paper introduces Discovery Loop, a lightweight system that employs a large language model (LLM) to iteratively evolve optimization algorithms for the Packomania circle‑packing benchmark. Starting from a simple seed solver, the LLM proposes algorithmic improvements guided by a scoreboard and a history of prior ideas, evaluates each candidate against an independent verifier, and retains only successful changes. Within 15 iterations and a total LLM cost of $27.72, the system broke 10 Packomania records for N between 101 and 114, improving the best known solutions by 2.4%–5.4%.
The work demonstrates that a cost‑efficient, LLM‑driven approach can rapidly advance state‑of‑the‑art solutions in a complex optimization domain, suggesting broader potential for democratizing automated scientific discovery.
By Wes Sander
arXiv:2602. 10233v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: LLM-guided evolutionary computation, most notably AlphaEvolve, has been remarkably successful in discovering novel mathematical constructions by solving challenging optimization problems.
By Alexey Kravatskiy, Valentin Khrulkov, Ivan Oseledets
arXiv:2605. 29649v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Heuristic search is the dominant paradigm in symbolic AI planning, and the strongest heuristics are the result of decades of work by planning researchers.
By Elliot Gestrin, Jendrik Seipp
arXiv:2503. 10954v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Large Language Model (LLM) agents can solve *any* computational problem *without* an algorithm in a runtime *independent* of the computational complexity of that problem.
By Eric Tang, Jing Liu, Marcel B\"ohme
arXiv:2609.37849v1 Announce Type: cross
Abstract: Scientific software is increasingly required to process larger datasets while maintaining acceptable execution times. Software optimization tradition...
By Pavlin G. Poli\v{c}ar, Martin \v{S}pendl, Toma\v{z} Ho\v{c}evar
The paper presents a hybrid approach that combines large language models (LLMs) with genetic algorithms to solve ARC-AGI-2 tasks. An LLM (Qwen3.5-4B) first generates a small set of programs, which seed a genetic algorithm that evolves these programs within a domain‑specific language ensuring validity. This method yields 6 correct solutions out of 60 tasks (10%), outperforming either technique alone.
By Val Dyachenko
arXiv:2606. 31801v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Automated Heuristic Design (AHD) with Large Language Models (LLMs) has shown remarkable progress in discovering high-quality heuristics.
By Fei Liu, Alessio Figalli, Patrick Owen, Nicola Serra
The paper investigates whether large language models (LLMs) can design effective algorithms for well-specified operations research (OR) problems, focusing on inventory control, queueing network control, and assortment optimization. Two usage levels are examined: (1) the model receives a single problem instance and outputs a solution, and (2) the model receives only a problem class description and returns a general algorithm mapping instance parameters to solutions. Using a single untuned prompt and a Python sandbox, the strongest tested model, gpt-5.6-sol, matches or surpasses existing methods on nearly all evaluated instances, even when the algorithm is fixed before seeing evaluation cases, and performance improves markedly across models released within eight months.
By Jackie Baek
arXiv:2509. 08269v5 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly integrated with evolutionary computation to support optimization tasks.
By Yisong Zhang, Ran Cheng, Guoxing Yi, Kay Chen Tan
arXiv:2609.37356v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Generating optimization instances that are both feasible and computationally challenging is crucial for benchmarking solvers and training learning-base...
By Jitin Singla, Parikshit Pareek, Pratik Jawanpuria, Parag Singla
arXiv:2608. 02612v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Formulating an optimization problem strongly affects the quality of the final solution, yet good formulations usually require substantial expertise.
By Yutaro Yamada, Kei Hiroshima, Nozomu Yoshinari, Kento Uchida, Shinichi Shirakawa
arXiv:2607. 11916v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) with evolutionary computation has emerged as a powerful paradigm for automated heuristic design in combinatorial optimization.
By Nam Do Khanh, Nhat Nguyen Tran Minh, Dat Pham Vu Tuan, Long Doan, Binh Huynh Thi Thanh