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A directed graph (digraph) is formed by vertices and arcs (directed edges) from one vertex to another. A feedback vertex set (FVS) is a set of vertices that contains at least one vertex of every directed cycle in this digraph. The directed feedback vertex set problem aims at constructing a FVS of minimum cardinality. This is a fundamental cycle-constrained hard combinatorial optimization problem with wide practical applications. In this paper we construct a spin glass model for the directed FVS problem by converting the global cycle constraints into local arc constraints, and study this model through the replica-symmetric (RS) mean field theory of statistical physics. We then implement a belief propagation-guided decimation (BPD) algorithm for single digraph instances. The BPD algorithm slightly outperforms the simulated annealing algorithm on large random graph instances. The RS mean field results and algorithmic …