A proximal point method for the sum of maximal monotone operators

In this paper, we concentrate on the maximal inclusion problem of locating the zeros of the sum of maximal monotone operators in the framework of proximal point method. Such problems arise widely in several applied mathematical fields such as signal and image processing. We define two new maximal monotone operators and characterize the solutions of the considered problem via the zeros of the new operators. The maximal monotonicity and resolvent of both of the defined operators are proved and calculated, respectively. The traditional proximal point algorithm can be therefore applied to the considered maximal inclusion problem, and the convergence is ensured. Furthermore, by exploring the relationship between the proposed method and the generalized forward‐backward splitting algorithm, we point out that this algorithm is essentially the proximal point algorithm when the operator corresponding to the forward step is the zero operator. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.