Hyperbolic rank and subexponential corank of metric spaces (Q1606012)

This paper introduces a new quasi-isometry invariant corank \(X\) of a metric space \(X\) called the subexponential corank. The main result of the paper is that \(\text{rank}_h X\leq\text{corank} X\), where \(\text{rank}_h X\) is the hyperbolic corank, which the authors prefer to rename as the hyperbolic rank. This leads to a proof that (1) for \(X=X_1\times \cdots \times X_m\) a product of Hadamard manifolds with pinched negative curvature, \(\text{rank}_h X\) is the sum of the \(\text{rank}_h X_i\), and (2) if \(X\) is a Riemannian symmetric space of noncompact type then \(\text{rank}_h X=\dim X-\text{rank} X\). These results were conjectured by \textit{M. Gromov} [Geometric group theory, Vol. 2: Asymptotic invariants of infinite groups, Lond. Math. Soc. Lect. Note Ser. 182 (1993; Zbl 0841.20039)].