Asymptotic dimension


In metric geometry, asymptotic dimension of a metric space is a large-scale analog of Lebesgue covering dimension. The notion of asymptotic dimension was introduced by Mikhail Gromov in his 1993 monograph Asymptotic invariants of infinite groups in the context of geometric group theory, as a quasi-isometry invariant of finitely generated groups. As shown by Guoliang Yu, finitely generated groups of finite homotopy type with finite asymptotic dimension satisfy the Novikov conjecture. Asymptotic dimension has important applications in geometric analysis and index theory.

Formal definition

Let be a metric space and be an integer. We say that if for every there exists a uniformly bounded cover of such that every closed -ball in intersects at most subsets from. Here 'uniformly bounded' means that.
We then define the asymptotic dimension as the smallest integer such that, if at least one such exists, and define otherwise.
Also, one says that a family of metric spaces satisfies uniformly if for every and every there exists a cover of by sets of diameter at most such that every closed -ball in intersects at most subsets from.

Examples

Properties

  • If is a subspace of a metric space, then.
  • For any metric spaces and one has.
  • If then.
  • If is a coarse embedding, then.
  • If and are coarsely equivalent metric spaces, then.
  • If is a real tree then.
  • Let be a Lipschitz map from a geodesic metric space to a metric space . Suppose that for every the set family satisfies the inequality uniformly. Then See
  • If is a metric space with then admits a coarse embedding into a Hilbert space.
  • If is a metric space of bounded geometry with then admits a coarse embedding into a product of locally finite simplicial trees.

Asymptotic dimension in geometric group theory

Asymptotic dimension achieved particular prominence in geometric group theory after a 1998 paper of Guoliang Yu
, which proved that if is a finitely generated group of finite homotopy type such that, then satisfies the Novikov conjecture. As was subsequently shown, finitely generated groups with finite asymptotic dimension are topologically amenable, i.e. satisfy Guoliang Yu's Property A introduced in and equivalent to the exactness of the reduced C*-algebra of the group.