An augmented Lagrangian method for distributed optimization

We propose a novel distributed method for convex optimization problems with a certain separability structure. The method is based on the augmented Lagrangian framework. We analyze its convergence and provide an application to two network models, as well as to a two-stage stochastic optimization problem. The proposed method compares favorably to two augmented Lagrangian decomposition methods known in the literature, as well as to decomposition methods based on the ordinary Lagrangian function.