An elitist genetic algorithm for the maximum independent set problem

Genetic algorithms are a computational paradigm belonging to the class of optimization techniques known as evolutionary computation. They have been implemented successfully to solve many difficult optimization problems. We have developed a new genetic algorithm for the maximum independent set problem based on the elitist strategy. The algorithm presented in this paper is tested on the so-called DIMACS benchmark graphs. The effectiveness of the algorithm is very satisfactory since it outperforms in most cases the genetic algorithms for the maximum independent set problem reported in literature.