Mate

A mate is inspired by the exchange of genetic material which occurs in natural reproduction. The idea is to select two individuals, thence take a part from one—the contributor—and include it in the other—the recipient. The result is a new individual which is a combination of the two.

Recipient Individual

1. the recipient individual is selected probabilistically

Contributor Individual

1. the contributor individual is selected probabilistically
2. the contributor individual and the recipient individual may be the same individual

Recipient Twig

1. the recipient node is selected at random; every candidate has an equal chance of selection
2. every node in every tree of the recipient individual is a candidate for selection as the root node of the recipient twig
   1. the root node of a tree is not excluded from the list of candidates

Contributor Twig

1. the contributor twig is selected at random; every candidate has an equal chance of selection
2. every node in every tree of the contributing individual is a candidate for selection as the root node of the contributing twig
   1. the root node of a tree is not excluded from the list of candidates
   2. a twig containing nodes which are not in the pset of the tree of the recipient is not a candidate
   3. a twig with a root node which is not equal to the type of the root node of the recipient twig is not a candidate

Ephemerals

TODO: there are rules applicable to ephemeral terminals during a mate