Random version of Dvoretzky's theorem in $\ell_p^n$

Abstract

We study the dependence on $\varepsilon$ in the critical dimension $k(n,p,\varepsilon)$ for which one can find random sections of the $\ell_p^n$-ball which are $(1+\varepsilon)$-spherical. We give lower (and upper) estimates for $k(n,p,\varepsilon)$ for all eligible values $p$ and $\varepsilon$ as $n\to \infty$, which agree with the sharp estimates for the extreme values $p=1$ and $p=\infty$. Toward this end, we provide tight bounds for the Gaussian concentration of the $\ell_p$-norm.