Some New Bounds on the Entropy Numbers of Diagonal Operators

Abstract: Entropy numbers are an important tool for quantifying the compactness of operators. Besides establishing new upper bounds on the entropy numbers of diagonal operators $D_\sigma$ from $\ell_p$ to $\ell_q$, where $p\not=q$, we investigate the optimality of these bounds. In case of $p<q$ optimality is proven for fast decaying diagonal sequences, which include exponentially decreasing sequences. In case of $p>q$ we show optimality under weaker assumption than previously used in the literature. In addition, we illustrate the benefit of our results with examples not covered in the literature so far.