Groups acting on finite dimensional spaces with finite stabilizers (Q1385234)

The class \(H{\mathcal F}\) of hierarchically decomposable groups was introduced by \textit{P. H. Kropholler} [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 90, No. 1, 55-67 (1993; Zbl 0816.20042)] as follows. Let \(H_0{\mathcal F}\) be the class of finite groups and define \(H_\alpha{\mathcal F}\) for each ordinal \(\alpha\) inductively: if \(\alpha\) is a succesor ordinal then \(H_\alpha{\mathcal F}\) is the class of groups which admit a finite-dimensional contractible \(G\)-\(CW\)-complex with cell stabilizer in \(H_{\alpha-1}{\mathcal F}\) and if \(\alpha\) is a limit ordinal then \(H_\alpha{\mathcal F}=\bigcup_{\beta<\alpha} H_\beta{\mathcal F}\). A group belongs to \(H{\mathcal F}\) if it belongs to \(H_\alpha{\mathcal F}\) for some \(\alpha\). The class \(H{\mathcal F}\) is a big class of groups which contains among others the free groups, the countable soluble and linear groups and is closed under subgroups, extensions, free products with amalgamations and HNN extensions. It was conjectured [in \textit{P. Kropholler}, Lond. Math. Soc. Lect. Note Ser. 204, 190-216 (1995; Zbl 0852.20041)] that if \(G\) is in \(H{\mathcal F}\) and is of type \(FP_\infty\) then it is in \(H_1{\mathcal F}\). Here the authors prove this conjecture by showing: Theorem A. Let \(G\) be an \(H{\mathcal F}\)-group of type \(FP_\infty\). Then there is a finite-dimensional model for \({\mathbf E}G\). Recall that \({\mathbf E}G\), the classifying space for proper \(G\)-actions, is a \(G\)-\(CW\)-complex \(X\) characterized up to \(G\)-homotopy by the requirement that for every finite subgroup \(H<G\) the fixed point space \(X^H\) is contractible, and for infinite \(H<G\), \(X^H\) is empty. Theorem A is proved by showing that if \(G\) is an \(H{\mathcal F}\)-group such that \(d=\dim|\Lambda(G)|<\infty\) and \(m=\text{proj.}\dim_{\mathbb{Z} G}B(G,\mathbb{Z})<\infty\) then there is an \({\mathbf E}G\) with finite dimension bounded by a function of \(d\) and \(m\). For a group \(G\), \(\Lambda(G)\) denotes the poset of nontrivial finite subgroups of \(G\) and \(B(G,\mathbb{Z})\) the ring of bounded functions from \(G\) to \(\mathbb{Z}\). The \(G\)-simplicial complex \(|\Lambda(G)|\) determined by the poset \(\Lambda(G)\) is their basic building block for models of \({\mathbf E}G\). The hypothesis that \(G\) belongs to \(H{\mathcal F}\) cannot be dropped since it was shown by \textit{K. S. Brown} and \textit{R. Geoghegan} [Invent. Math. 77, 367-381 (1984; Zbl 0557.55009)] that Thompson's group \(\langle x_0,x_1,x_2,\ldots\mid x^{-1}_ix_jx_i=x_{j+1},\;i<j\rangle\) which has infinite cohomological dimension is of type \(FP_\infty\). However, there are many groups in \(H_1{\mathcal F}\) with finite-dimensional \({\mathbf E}\) for which \(\Lambda\) is infinite-dimensional. For example the Prüfer group of type \(p^\infty\).