On cotype and a Grothendieck-type theorem for absolutely summing multilinear operators

A famous result due to Grothendieck asserts that every continuous linear operator from $\ell_{1}$ to $\ell_{2}$ is absolutely $(1,1)$-summing. If $n\geq2,$ however, it is very simple to prove that every continuous $n$-linear operator from $\ell_{1}\times...\times\ell_{1}$ to $\ell_{2}$ is absolutely $(1;1,...,1)$-summing, and even absolutely (\frac{2}% {n};1,...,1) -summing$.$ In this note we deal with the following problem: Given a positive integer $n\geq2$, what is the best constant $g_{n}>0$ so that every $n$-linear operator from $\ell_{1}\times...\times\ell_{1}$ to $\ell_{2}$ is absolutely $(g_{n};1,...,1)$-summing? We prove that $g_{n}\leq\frac{2}{n+1}$ and also obtain an optimal improvement of previous recent results (due to Heinz Juenk $\mathit{et}$ $\mathit{al}$, Geraldo Botelho $\mathit{et}$ $\mathit{al}$ and Dumitru Popa) on inclusion theorems for absolutely summing multilinear operators.