Universal example for \(S\)-arithmetic groups (Q1364150)

Let \(G\) be a locally compact group. A topological space \(X\) with continuous \(G\)-action is said to be a proper \(G\)-space if it locally maps equivalently to homogeneous spaces with compact stabilizers. A universal proper space (called universal example in the text) is a proper \(G\)-space \(EG\) such that for any proper \(G\)-space \(X\) there exists a continuous \(G\)-map from \(X\) to \(EG\) and any two such maps are homotopic through \(G\)-maps. The space \(EG\) is determined up to \(G\)-homotopy equivalence. It is well known that for a reductive group \(G\) over a local field the space \(EG\) equals the symmetric space in the archimedean and the Bruhat-Tits building in the nonarchimedean case. Let \({\mathcal G}\) be reductive over the rationals and \(\Gamma \subset {\mathcal G} (\mathbb{Q})\) be an \(S\)-arithmetic subgroup, where \(S\) is a finite set of places including \(\infty\). It is a simple well known fact that the space \(E\Gamma\) equals the product \(\prod_{v\in S} E {\mathcal G} (\mathbb{Q}_v)\) of the corresponding local spaces.