Random sets of isomorphism of linear operators on Hilbert space

Roman Vershynin

Published 2006-01-06, updated 2006-12-27Version 3

This note deals with a problem of the probabilistic Ramsey theory in functional analysis. Given a linear operator $T$ on a Hilbert space with an orthogonal basis, we define the isomorphic structure $\Sigma(T)$ as the family of all subsets of the basis so that $T$ restricted to their span is a nice isomorphism. Our main result is a dimension-free optimal estimate of the size of $\Sigma(T)$. It improves and extends in several ways the principle of restricted invertibility due to Bourgain and Tzafriri. With an appropriate notion of randomness, we obtain a randomized principle of restricted invertibility.