Let (W,S) be a Coxeter system of finite rank (ie |S| is finite) and let A be
the associated Coxeter (or Davis) complex. We study chains of pairwise parallel
walls in A using Tits' bilinear form associated to the standard root system of
(W,S). As an application, we prove the strong parallel wall conjecture of G
Niblo and L Reeves [J Group Theory 6 (2003) 399--413]. This allows to prove
finiteness of the number of conjugacy classes of certain one-ended subgroups of
W, which yields in turn the determination of all co-Hopfian Coxeter groups of
2--spherical type.Comment: This is the version published by Algebraic & Geometric Topology on 14
November 200