Exercise · ZW-PROXIMAL-OPERATOR-001 · ★☆☆ Basic

What is the value of \( \operatorname{prox}_{f}(x) \) for \( f(u)=0 \)?

Choose one option.

Show answer
  • D. \( x \)

Explanation

If \( f \) is identically zero, the problem reduces to minimizing \( \frac{1}{2}\|u-x\|^2 \), whose minimizer is \( u=x \). The option \( \frac{x}{2} \) ignores that the quadratic term is minimized exactly at \( x \).

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Review the concept: Proximal operator

The proximal operator of a convex function \( f \) maps each point \( x \) to the unique minimizer of \( f(u)+\frac{1}{2}\|u-x\|^2 \).

\[\operatorname{prox}_{f}(x)=\arg\min_{u}\left\{f(u)+\tfrac{1}{2}\|u-x\|^2\right\}\]

More practice problems: proximal operator

ZW-PROXIMAL-OPERATOR-002 →