The circumcentered-reflection method (CRM) has been recently proposed as a methodology for accelerating several algorithms for solving the Convex Feasibility Problem (CFP), equivalent to finding a common fixed-point of the orthogonal projections onto a finite number of closed and convex sets. In this paper, we apply CRM to the more general Fixed Point Problem (denoted as FPP), consisting of finding a common fixed-point of operators belonging to a larger family of operators, namely firmly nonexpansive operators. We prove than in this setting, CRM is globally convergent to a common fixed-point (supposing at least one exists). We also establish linear convergence of the sequence generated by CRM applied to FPP, under a not too demanding error bound assumption, and provide an estimate of the asymptotic constant. We provide solid numerical evidence of the superiority of CRM when compared to the classical Parallel Projections Method (PPM). Additionally, we present certain results of convex combination of orthogonal projections, of some interest on its own.
We introduce the circumcenter mapping induced by a set of (usually nonexpansive) operators. One prominent example of a circumcenter mapping is the celebrated Douglas--Rachford splitting operator. Our study is motivated by the Circumcentered--Douglas--Rachford method recently introduced by Behling, Bello Cruz, and Santos in order to accelerate the Douglas--Rachford method for solving certain classes of feasibility problems. We systematically explore the properness of the circumcenter mapping induced by reflectors or projectors. Numerous examples are presented. We also present a version of Browd…
Utilizing our recent proximal-average based results on the constructive extension of monotone operators, we provide a novel approach to the celebrated Kirszbraun-Valentine Theorem and to the extension of firmly nonexpansive mappings.
The notion of a firmly nonexpansive mapping is central in fixed point theory because of attractive convergence properties for iterates and the correspondence with maximal monotone operators due to Minty. In this paper, we systematically analyze the relationship between properties of firmly nonexpansive mappings and associated maximal monotone operators. Dual and self-dual properties are also identified. The results are illustrated through several examples.
In this paper we provide a unified treatment of some convex minimization problems, which allows for a better understanding and, in some cases, improvement of results in this direction proved recently in spaces of curvature bounded above. For this purpose, we analyze the asymptotic behavior of compositions of finitely many firmly nonexpansive mappings in the setting of $p$-uniformly convex geodesic spaces focusing on asymptotic regularity and convergence results.
Maximally monotone operators and firmly nonexpansive mappings play key roles in modern optimization and nonlinear analysis. Five years ago, it was shown that if finitely many firmly nonexpansive operators are all asymptotically regular (i.e., the have or "almost have" fixed points), then the same is true for compositions and convex combinations. In this paper, we derive bounds on the magnitude of the minimal displacement vectors of compositions and of convex combinations in terms of the displacement vectors of the underlying operators. Our results completely generalize earlier works. Moreover,…
Recently, the author, together with L. Leustean and A. Nicolae, introduced the notion of jointly firmly nonexpansive families of mappings in order to investigate in an abstract manner the convergence of proximal methods. Here, we further the study of this concept, by giving a characterization in terms of the classical resolvent identity, by improving on the rate of convergence previously obtained for the uniform case, and by giving a treatment of the asymptotic behaviour at infinity of such families.
Because of Minty's classical correspondence between firmly nonexpansive mappings and maximally monotone operators, the notion of a firmly nonexpansive mapping has proven to be of basic importance in fixed point theory, monotone operator theory, and convex optimization. In this note, we show that if finitely many firmly nonexpansive mappings defined on a real Hilbert space are given and each of these mappings is asymptotically regular, which is equivalent to saying that they have or "almost have" fixed points, then the same is true for their composition. This significantly generalizes the resul…
Monotone operators and (firmly) nonexpansive mappings are fundamental objects in modern analysis and computational optimization. Five years ago, it was shown that if finitely many firmly nonexpansive mappings have or "almost have" fixed points, then the same is true for compositions and convex combinations. More recently, sharp information about the minimal displacement vector of compositions and of convex combinations of firmly nonexpansive mappings was obtained in terms of the displacement vectors of the underlying operators. Using a new proof technique based on the Brezis-Haraux theorem and…
We show that in the framework of CAT(0) spaces, any convex combination of two mappings which are firmly nonexpansive -- or which satisfy the more general property $(P_2)$ -- is asymptotically regular, conditional on its fixed point set being nonempty, and, in addition, also $Δ$-convergent to such a fixed point. These results are established by the construction and study of a convex combination metric on the Cartesian square of a CAT(0) space. We also derive a uniform rate of asymptotic regularity in the sense of proof mining. All these results are then interpreted in the special case of the ma…
We extend to $p$-uniformly convex spaces tools from the analysis of fixed point iterations in linear spaces. This study is restricted to an appropriate generalization of single-valued, pointwise $α$-averaged mappings. Our main contribution is establishing a calculus for these mappings in p-uniformly convex spaces, showing in particular how the property is preserved under compositions and convex combinations. This is of central importance to splitting algorithms that are built by such convex combinations and compositions, and reduces the convergence analysis to simply verifying $α$-firm nonexpa…
The correspondence between the monotonicity of a (possibly) set-valued operator and the firm nonexpansiveness of its resolvent is a key ingredient in the convergence analysis of many optimization algorithms. Firmly nonexpansive operators form a proper subclass of the more general - but still pleasant from an algorithmic perspective - class of averaged operators. In this paper, we introduce the new notion of conically nonexpansive operators which generalize nonexpansive mappings. We characterize averaged operators as being resolvents of comonotone operators under appropriate scaling. As a conse…
We consider the split convex feasibility problem in a fixed point setting. Motivated by the well-known CQ-method of Byrne (2002), we define an abstract andweber transform which applies to more general operators than the metric projection. We call the result of this transform a Landweber operator. It turns out that the Landweber transform preserves many interesting properties. For example, the Landweber transform of a (quasi/firmly) nonexpansive mapping is again (quasi/firmly) nonexpansive. Moreover, the Landweber transform of a (weakly/linearly) regular mapping is again (weakly/linearly) regul…
Many iterative optimization algorithms involve compositions of special cases of Lipschitz continuous operators, namely firmly nonexpansive, averaged and nonexpansive operators. The structure and properties of the compositions are of particular importance in the proofs of convergence of such algorithms. In this paper, we systematically study the compositions of further special cases of Lipschitz continuous operators. Applications of our results include compositions of scaled conically nonexpansive mappings, as well as the Douglas--Rachford and forward-backward operators, when applied to solve c…
Projection operators are fundamental algorithmic operators in Analysis and Optimization. It is well known that these operators are firmly nonexpansive; however, their composition is generally only averaged and no longer firmly nonexpansive. In this note, we introduce the modulus of averagedness and provide an exact result for the composition of two linear projection operators. As a consequence, we deduce that the Ogura-Yamada bound for the modulus of the composition is sharp.
Building up on classical linear formulations, we posit that a broad class of problems in signal synthesis and in signal recovery are reducible to the basic task of finding a point in a closed convex subset of a Hilbert space that satisfies a number of nonlinear equations involving firmly nonexpansive operators. We investigate this formalism in the case when, due to inaccurate modeling or perturbations, the nonlinear equations are inconsistent. A relaxed formulation of the original problem is proposed in the form of a variational inequality. The properties of the relaxed problem are investigate…
In 1977, Baillon and Haddad proved that if the gradient of a convex and continuously differentiable function is nonexpansive, then it is actually firmly nonexpansive. This result, which has become known as the Baillon-Haddad theorem, has found many applications in optimization and numerical functional analysis. In this note, we propose short alternative proofs of this result and strengthen its conclusion.
We consider the variational inequality problem over the intersection of fixed point sets of firmly nonexpansive operators. In order to solve the problem, we present an algorithm and subsequently show the strong convergence of the generated sequence to the solution of the considered problem.
Monotonicity and convex analysis arise naturally in the framework of multi-marginal optimal transport theory. However, a comprehensive multi-marginal monotonicity and convex analysis theory is still missing. To this end we study extensions of classical monotone operator theory and convex analysis into the multi-marginal setting. We characterize multi-marginal c-monotonicity in terms of classical monotonicity and firmly nonexpansive mappings. We provide Minty type, continuity and conjugacy criteria for multi-marginal maximal monotonicity. We extend the partition of the identity into a sum of fi…
We propose a method for solving constrained fixed point problems involving compositions of Lipschitz pseudo contractive and firmly nonexpansive operators in Hilbert spaces. Each iteration of the method uses separate evaluations of these operators and an outer approximation given by the projection onto a closed half-space containing the constraint set. Its convergence is established and applications to monotone inclusion splitting and constrained equilibrium problems are demonstrated.
The Douglas-Rachford algorithm can be represented as the fixed point iteration of a firmly nonexpansive operator. When the operator has no fixed points, the algorithm's iterates diverge, but the difference between consecutive iterates converges to the so-called minimal displacement vector, which can be used to certify infeasibility of an optimization problem. In this paper, we establish new properties of the minimal displacement vector, which allow us to generalize some existing results.
The proximal point algorithm is a widely used tool for solving a variety of convex optimization problems such as finding zeros of maximally monotone operators, fixed points of nonexpansive mappings, as well as minimizing convex functions. The algorithm works by applying successively so-called "resolvent" mappings associated to the original object that one aims to optimize. In this paper we abstract from the corresponding resolvents employed in these problems the natural notion of jointly firmly nonexpansive families of mappings. This leads to a streamlined method of proving weak convergence of…
Several aspects of the interplay between monotone operator theory and convex optimization are presented. The crucial role played by monotone operators in the analysis and the numerical solution of convex minimization problems is emphasized. We review the properties of subdifferentials as maximally monotone operators and, in tandem, investigate those of proximity operators as resolvents. In particular, we study new transformations which map proximity operators to proximity operators, and establish connections with self-dual classes of firmly nonexpansive operators. In addition, new insights and…
We consider the problem of recovering a signal from nonlinear transformations, under convex constraints modeling a priori information. Standard feasibility and optimization methods are ill-suited to tackle this problem due to the nonlinearities. We show that, in many common applications, the transformation model can be associated with fixed point equations involving firmly nonexpansive operators. In turn, the recovery problem is reduced to a tractable common fixed point formulation, which is solved efficiently by a provably convergent, block-iterative algorithm. Applications to signal and imag…
In this paper we consider the problem of finding the minimizations of the sum of two convex functions and the composition of another convex function with a continuous linear operator. With the idea of coordinate descent, we design a stochastic coordinate descent primal-dual splitting algorithm with dynamic stepsize. Based on randomized Modified Krasnosel'skii-Mann iterations and the firmly nonexpansive properties of the proximity operator, we achieve the convergence of the proposed algorithms. Moreover, we give two applications of our method.
We consider the problem of finding the minimization of the sum of a convex function and the composition of another convex function with a continuous linear operator from the view of fixed point algorithms based on proximity operators. We design a primal-dual fixed point algorithm with dynamic stepsize based on the proximity operator and obtain a scheme with a closed form solution for each iteration. Based on Modified Mann iteration and the firmly nonexpansive properties of the proximity operator, we achieve the convergence of the proposed algorithm.
We consider the problem of finding the minimizations of the sum of two convex functions and the composition of another convex function with a continuous linear operator from the view of fixed point algorithms based on proximity operators, which is is inspired by recent results of Chen, Huang and Zhang. With the idea of coordinate descent, we design a stochastic coordinate descent splitting primal- dual fixed point algorithm. Based on randomized krasnosel'skii mann iterations and the firmly nonexpansive properties of the proximity operator, we achieve the convergence of the proposed algorithms.
To provide generalized solutions if a given problem admits no actual solution is an important task in mathematics and the natural sciences. It has a rich history dating back to the early 19th century when Carl Friedrich Gauss developed the method of least squares of a system of linear equations - its solutions can be viewed as fixed points of averaged projections onto hyperplanes. A powerful generalization of this problem is to find fixed points of averaged resolvents (i.e., firmly nonexpansive mappings). This paper concerns the relationship between the set of fixed points of averaged resolven…
We introduce and investigate a new generalized convexity notion for functions called prox-convexity. The proximity operator of such a function is single-valued and firmly nonexpansive. We provide examples of (strongly) quasiconvex, weakly convex, and DC (difference of convex) functions that are prox-convex, however none of these classes fully contains the one of prox-convex functions or is included into it. We show that the classical proximal point algorithm remains convergent when the convexity of the proper lower semicontinuous function to be minimized is relaxed to prox-convexity.
Under investigation is the problem of finding the best approximation of a function in a Hilbert space subject to convex constraints and prescribed nonlinear transformations. We show that in many instances these prescriptions can be represented using firmly nonexpansive operators, even when the original observation process is discontinuous. The proposed framework thus captures a large body of classical and contemporary best approximation problems arising in areas such as harmonic analysis, statistics, interpolation theory, and signal processing. The resulting problem is recast in terms of a com…
String-averaging is an algorithmic structure used when handling a family of operators in situations where the algorithm at hand requires to employ the operators in a specific order. Sequential orderings are well-known and a simultaneous order means that all operators are used simultaneously (in parallel). String-averaging allows to use strings of indices, constructed by subsets of the index set of all operators, to apply the operators along these strings and then to combine their end-points in some agreed manner to yield the next iterate of the algorithm. String-averaging methods were discusse…
