We show that any $n\times m$ matrix $A$ can be approximated in operator norm by a submatrix with a number of columns of order the stable rank of $A$. This improves on existing results by removing an extra logarithmic factor in the size of the extracted matrix. Our proof uses the recent solution of the Kadison-Singer problem. We also develop a sort of tensorization technique to deal with constraint approximation problems. As an application, we provide a sparsification result with equal weights and an optimal approximate John's decomposition for non-symmetric convex bodies. This enables us to show that any convex body in $\mathbb{ R}^n$ is arbitrary close to another one having $O(n)$ contact points and fills the gap left in the literature after the results of Rudelson and Srivastava by completely answering the problem. As a consequence, we also show that the method developed by Gu\'edon, Gordon and Meyer to establish the isomorphic Dvoretzky theorem yields to the best known result once we inject our improvements.
Categories: math.FA math.MG