Self-dual smooth approximations of convex functions via the proximal average

Abstract

The proximal average of two convex functions has proven to be a useful tool in convex analysis. In this note, we express the Goebel self-dual smoothing operator in terms of the proximal average, which allows us to give a different proof of self duality. We also provide a novel self-dual smoothing operator. Both operators are illustrated by smoothing the norm.