Graph coloring and recombination

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that some of the most powerful algorithms for graph coloring involve the combination of evolutionary-based methods with exploitative local search-based techniques. This chapter conducts a review and discussion of such methods, principally focussing on the role that recombination plays in this process. In particular we observe that, while in some cases recombination seems to be usefully combining substructures inherited from parents, in other cases it is merely acting as a macro perturbation operator, helping to reinvigorate the search from time to time.