A geometric lemma and duality of entropy numbers (Q2702149)

The author study the following conjecture (stated in a somewhat imprecise form and useful as the Geometric Lemma): Let \(n\), \(N\) be positive integers with \(k= \log N\ll n\) (\(\ll\) means much smaller than). If \(S\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n\) is a finite set whose cardinality doesn't exceed \(N\) and such that its convex hull \(K=\text{conv }S\) admits an equally small Euclidean \(1\)-net (i.e., \(K\) can be covered by no more than \(N\) translates of the unit Euclidean ball \(D\)), then \({1\over 2} D\not\subset K\). If \(X\), \(Y\) are Banach spaces, \(u: X\to Y\) a compact operator, \(\varepsilon> 0\) and \(N(u,\varepsilon)\) is the smallest number of balls in \(Y\) of radius \(\varepsilon\) that together \(\text{conv }u(B_x)\), the unit ball \(B_x\) of \(X\) then conjecture referred to above assets that there exist universal constants \(a, b> 0\) such that \[ a^{-1}\log N(u,b\varepsilon)\leq \log N(u^*,\varepsilon)\leq a\log N(u,b^{-1}\varepsilon). \] In terms of the so-called entropy numbers defined for an operator \(u\) by \[ e_k(u)= \inf\{\varepsilon> 0: N(u, \varepsilon)\leq 2^k\}, \] the assertion of the conjecture (roughly) becomes \[ b^{-1} e_{ak}(u)\leq e_k(u^*)\leq be_{k/a}(u). \] The conjecture has been checked for various convex and random bodies but in the general setting they are able to prove it `up to a logarithmic factor'. In Theorem 9.3, they show: The assertion of the Geometric Lemma holds if we replace the assumption \(k\ll n\) by \(k\leq c(1+ \log n)^{-6} n\), when \(c> 0\) is some univeral numerical constant. The corresponding `entropy duality' result is Theorem 9.4: There are numerical constants \(a, c> 0\) such that if \(u\) is a compact Hilbert space valued operator and \(k\in\mathbb{N}\), then \(e_{ak}(u^*)\leq C(1+ \log k)^3e_k(u)\). Theorem 9.3 asserts, in particular: The mean width of \(K\cap D\) does not exceed \(C(1+ \log k)^3\sqrt{k/n}\), when \(C\) is a universal numerical constant. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0949.00025].