We introduce a new variant of quantitative Helly-type theorems: the minimal \emph{ "homothetic distance"} of the intersection of a family of convex sets to the intersection of a subfamily of a fixed size. As an application, we establish the following quantitative Helly-type result for the \emph{ diameter}. If $K$ is the intersection of finitely many convex bodies in $\mathbb{ R}^d$, then one can select $2d$ of these bodies whose intersection is of diameter at most $(2d)^3\mathrm{ diam}(K)$. The best previously known estimate, due to Brazitikos, is $c d^{ 11/2}$. Moreover, we confirm that the multiplicative factor $c d^{ 1/2}$ conjectured by B\'ar\'any, Katchalski and Pach cannot be improved.
Categories: math.MG math.CO