Asymptotic formulas for the diameter of sections of symmetric convex bodies (Q557578)

This paper continues the investigation of the first two authors on the relation of the diameter of random \(\lambda n\)-dimensional central sections of a symmetric convex body in \(\mathbb R^n\) to global parameters of the body, see [Int. Math. Res. Not. 1997, No. 1, 5--19 (1997; Zbl 0877.52009); C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. I, Math. 325, No. 4, 389--394 (1997; Zbl 0889.52003); J. Reine Angew. Math. 497, 113--139 (1998; Zbl 0896.52007)]. Here the proportion \(\lambda\in (0,1)\) is fixed while asymptotics are considered for \(n\) tending to infinity. The main results are very precise upper and lower estimates which the authors call ``asymptotic formulas''. The global parameter closely linked to the diameter of the sections is \(M^*(K)\) which is just (half of) the classical mean width of \(K\). More precisely, the upper bound from [Int. Math. Res. Not. 1997, No. 1, 5--19 (1997; Zbl 0877.52009)] showed that if \(r\) is the solution of the equation \[ M^*(K\cap r B) = (1-\varepsilon) \, \sqrt{1-\lambda} \, r \] for some fixed \(\varepsilon \in (0,1)\), then the diameter \(D(K,E)\) satisfies \[ D(K\cap E) \leq r \] for ``almost all'' \(\lambda n\)-dimensional subspaces \(E\subset \mathbb R^n\). Here \(B\) is the Euclidean unit ball and the ``almost all'' means exponential concentration of the measure in the Grassmann manifold of all \(\lambda n\)-dimensional subspaces of \(\mathbb R^n\). The new result is a precise lower bound in similar terms. If \(\varepsilon\) is small enough and \(n\) large enough (depending on \(\lambda\) and \(\varepsilon\)) and if \(r\) is the solution of the equation \[ M^*(K\cap r B) = (1+\varepsilon) \, \sqrt{\frac{2-2\lambda}{2-\lambda}}r, \] then \[ D(K\cap E) \geq \frac{\varepsilon \sqrt{1-\lambda}}{3} r \] for all \(\lambda n\)-dimensional subspaces \(E\subset \mathbb R^n\). The main new ingredients in the proofs are results of \textit{M.~Gromov} [Geom.\ Funct.\ Anal.\ 13, No.~1, 178--215 (2003; Zbl 1044.46057)] on the isoperimetry of waists and of R.~Vershynin on their application to asymptotic convex geometry.