Genetic operators for hierarchical graph clustering

In this paper we propose an encoding scheme and ad hoc operators for a genetic approach to hierarchical graph clustering. Given a connected graph whose vertices correspond to points within a Euclidean space and a fitness function, a hierarchy of graphs in which each vertex corresponds to a connected subgraph of the graph below is generated. Both the number of clustering levels and the number of clusters on each level are not fixed a priori and are subject to optimization.