Physarum optimization: a new heuristic algorithm to minimal exposure problem

Nature is an invaluable source of inspiration for long-standing computational problems. Genetic algorithms and ant colony optimization are the well-known successes. Drawing the inspirations from these successful experience, we exploit the computing model in a single-celled organism -- physarum polycephalum, and further design a new heuristic algorithm, Physarum Optimization, to the minimal exposure problem of wireless sensor networks. More importantly, our proposed physarum optimization algorithm can be also applied to the general Steiner tree problem.