Adaptive Decentralized Composite Optimization via Three-Operator Splitting
Abstract
The paper studies decentralized optimization over networks, where agents minimize a sum of {\it locally} smooth (strongly) convex losses and plus a nonsmooth convex extended value term. We propose decentralized methods wherein agents {\it adaptively} adjust their stepsize via local backtracking procedures coupled with lightweight min-consensus protocols. Our design stems from a three-operator splitting factorization applied to an equivalent reformulation of the problem. The reformulation is endowed with a new BCV preconditioning metric (Bertsekas-O'Connor-Vandenberghe), which enables efficient decentralized implementation and local stepsize adjustments. We establish robust convergence guarantees. Under mere convexity, the proposed methods converge with a sublinear rate. Under strong convexity of the sum-function, and assuming the nonsmooth component is partly smooth, we further prove linear convergence. Numerical experiments corroborate the theory and highlight the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive stepsize strategy.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.17545,
title = {Adaptive Decentralized Composite Optimization via Three-Operator Splitting},
author = {Xiaokai Chen and Ilya Kuruzov and Gesualdo Scutari},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.17545},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
25 pages, 3 figures