Abstract
A combinatorial optimization problem, namely k-Cardinality Tree Problem,
is to find a subtree with exactly k edges in an undirected graph G, such that
the sum of edges’ weights is minimal. Since this problem is NP-hard, though many
heuristic and metaheuristic methods are widely adopted, the precision of these methods
is not well enough. In this paper we shall give a Memetic Algorithm based on
Tabu Search for solving this problem. The crossover in Memetic Algorithm acts as a
powerful diversitification strategy, which enlarges search area effectively. The experimental
results show that the proposed algorithm is superior to existing algorithms
both in precision and computing time. We arrive at a conclusion that a well designed
hybrid metaheuristic algorithm is efficient for solving the k-Cardinality Tree Problem.
