The L2L^2-(co)homology of groups with hierarchies

We study group actions on manifolds that admit hierarchies, which generalizes the idea of Haken n-manifolds introduced by Foozwell and Rubinstein. We show that these manifolds satisfy the Singer conjecture in dimensions $n \le 4$. Our main application is to Coxeter groups whose Davis complexes are manifolds; we show that the natural action of these groups on the Davis complex has a hierarchy. Our second result is that the Singer conjecture is equivalent to the cocompact action dimension conjecture, which is a statement about all groups, not just fundamental groups of closed aspherical manifolds.Comment: 11 page

Growth series of CAT(0) cubical complexes

Let $X$ be a CAT(0) cubical complex. The growth series of $X$ at $x$ is $G_{x}(t)=\sum_{y \in Vert(X)} t^{d(x,y)}$, where $d(x,y)$ denotes $\ell_{1}$-distance between $x$ and $y$. If $X$ is cocompact, then $G_{x}$ is a rational function of $t$. In the case when $X$ is the Davis complex of a right-angled Coxeter group it is a well-known that $G_{x}(t)=1/f_{L}(-t/(1+t))$, where $f_{L}$ denotes the $f$-polynomial of the link $L$ of a vertex of $X$. We obtain a similar formula for general cocompact $X$. We also obtain a simple relation between the growth series of individual orbits and the $f$-polynomials of various links. In particular, we get a simple proof of reciprocity of these series ($G_{x}(t)=\pm G_{x}(t^{-1})$) for an Eulerian manifold $X$.Comment: 8 page

Weighted L^2-cohomology of Coxeter groups based on barycentric subdivisons

Associated to any finite flag complex L there is a right-angled Coxeter group W_L and a contractible cubical complex Sigma_L (the Davis complex) on which W_L acts properly and cocompactly, and such that the link of each vertex is L. It follows that if L is a generalized homology sphere, then Sigma_L is a contractible homology manifold. We prove a generalized version of the Singer Conjecture (on the vanishing of the reduced weighted L^2_q-cohomology above the middle dimension) for the right-angled Coxeter groups based on barycentric subdivisions in even dimensions. We also prove this conjecture for the groups based on the barycentric subdivision of the boundary complex of a simplex.Comment: Published by Geometry and Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol8/paper28.abs.htm

Exotic smooth structures on nonpositively curved symmetric spaces

We construct series of examples of exotic smooth structures on compact locally symmetric spaces of noncompact type. In particular, we obtain higher rank examples, which do not support Riemannian metric of nonpositive curvature. The examples are obtained by taking the connected sum with an exotic sphere. To detect the change of the smooth structure we use a tangential map from the locally symmetric space its dual compact type twin.Comment: Published by Algebraic and Geometric Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/agt/AGTVol2/agt-2-18.abs.htm

Nonzero degree tangential maps between dual symmetric spaces

We construct a tangential map from a locally symmetric space of noncompact type to its dual compact type twin. By comparing the induced map in cohomology to a map defined by Matsushima, we conclude that in the equal rank case the map has a nonzero degree.Comment: Published by Algebraic and Geometric Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/agt/AGTVol1/agt-1-35.abs.htm

Piecewise Euclidean structures and Eberlein's Rigidity Theorem in the singular case

In this article, we generalize Eberlein's Rigidity Theorem to the singular case, namely, one of the spaces is only assumed to be a CAT(0) topological manifold. As a corollary, we get that any compact irreducible but locally reducible locally symmetric space of noncompact type does not admit a nonpositively curved (in the Aleksandrov sense) piecewise Euclidean structure. Any hyperbolic manifold, on the other hand, does admit such a structure.Comment: 28 pages. Published copy, also available at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol3/paper13.abs.htm

The action dimension of right‐angled Artin groups

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135257/1/blms0115.pd