  Discrete version of state transition algorithm is proposed in order to solve
the traveling salesman problem. Three special operators for discrete
optimization problem named swap, shift and symmetry transformations are
presented. Convergence analysis and time complexity of the algorithm are also
considered. To make the algorithm simple and efficient, no parameter adjusting
is suggested in current version. Experiments are carried out to test the
performance of the strategy, and comparisons with simulated annealing and ant
colony optimization have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed
algorithm. The results also show that the discrete state transition algorithm
consumes much less time and has better search ability than its counterparts,
which indicates that state transition algorithm is with strong adaptability.
