A Constant Factor Approximation for Directed Feedback Vertex Set in Graphs of Bounded Genus

The minimum directed feedback vertex set problem consists in finding the minimum set of vertices that should be removed in order to make a directed graph acyclic. This is a well-known NP-hard optimization problem with applications in various fields, such as VLSI chip design, bioinformatics and transaction processing deadlock prevention and node-weighted network design. We show a constant factor approximation for the directed feedback vertex set problem in graphs of bounded genus.