Using tabu search techniques for graph coloring (Q580987)

Tabu search techniques are used for moving step by step towards the minimum value of a function. A tabu list of forbidden movements is updated during the iterations to avoid cycling and being trapped in local minima. Such techniques are adapted to graph coloring problems. We show that they provide almost optimal colorings of graphs having up to 1000 nodes and their efficiency is shown to be significantly superior to the famous simulated annealing.