Rigidity result for certain three-dimensional singular spaces and their fundamental groups (Q2387801)

The notion of a \(P\)-manifold, and in particular of a hyperbolic \(P\)-manifold is defined (``piecewise manifold''). This is a topological space which has a stratification into pieces which are (hyperbolic) manifolds with boundary (a 1-dimensional \(P\)-manifold is a finite graph, and an \(n\)-dimensional \(P\)-manifold is a pair \(X_{n-1}\subset X_n\) such that each component of \(X_{n-1}\) is an \((n-1)\)-dimensional \(P\)-manifold, and the closure of each component of \(X_n-X_{n-1}\) is an \(n\)-manifold with boundary). A hyperbolic \(P\)-manifold is automatically a locally \(\text{CAT}(-1)\)-space, and hence also \(\delta\)-hyperbolic. The main technical tool is an analysis of the boundary at infinity of these spaces; the notion of a branching point in an arbitrary topological space is introduced, and it is shown how branching points in the boundary at infinity can be used to determine both the various strata and how they are pieced together. Applications include a version of Mostow rigidity as well as quasi-rigidity for these spaces.