Ions motion algorithm for solving optimization problems

•A new meta-heuristic called IMO inspired by ions motion is proposed.•The IMO algorithm is benchmarked on well-known test functions.•The results show the superiority and potential of IMO.

This paper proposes a novel optimization algorithm inspired by the ions motion in nature. In fact, the proposed algorithm mimics the attraction and repulsion of anions and cations to perform optimization. The proposed algorithm is designed in such a way to have the least tuning parameters, low computational complexity, fast convergence, and high local optima avoidance. The performance of this algorithm is benchmarked on 10 standard test functions and compared to four well-known algorithms in the literature. The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is able to show very competitive results and has merits in solving challenging optimization problems.