# Ant System: Optimization by a Colony of Cooperating Agents

- **Authors**: Marco Dorigo, Vittorio Maniezzo, Alberto Colorni
- **Year**: 1996
- **Summary**: This paper introduced the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) metaheuristic. Inspired by the foraging behavior of ants, it shows how a population of simple agents can find optimal solutions to complex problems (like the Traveling Salesman Problem) through indirect communication via pheromone trails (a concept called stigmergy). It's a foundational work in swarm intelligence.
- **Link**: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220436261_Ant_System_Optimization_by_a_Colony_of_Cooperating_Agents
