A memetic algorithm for the weighted feedback vertex set problem

Given an undirected and vertex weighted graph G = (V,E,w), the Weighted Feedback Vertex Set Problem consists of finding the subset F ⊆ V of vertices, with minimum weight, whose removal results in an acyclic graph. Finding the minimum feedback vertex set in a graph is an important combinatorial problem that has a variety of real applications. In this article, we introduce a memetic algorithm for this problem. We propose an efficient greedy procedure that quickly generates chromosomes with specific characteristics and a wise application of recent local search procedures based on κ -diamonds. Computational results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the effectiveness of two other metaheuristics recently proposed in the literature for this problem.