Long and thin covers for flow spaces (Q1691959)

Let \(G\) be a countable discrete group, and let \(X\) be a metric space. A \textit{flow space} \(X\) for \(G\) is a continuous action of \(G\times \mathbb{R}\) on \(X\), such that the action of \(G\times 0\) on \(X\) is by isometries and proper. The action of \(\mathbb{R}\) is called the \textit{flow}, and the action of \(\mathbb{R}\ni t\) on \(x\in X\) is denoted by \(\Phi_{t}(x)\). The notion of long and thin covers for metric spaces with actions were previously studied by different authors and was a key ingredient in the proof of the Farrell-Jones conjecture for hyperbolic and CAT(0) groups. In this paper, the authors generalize this and give a general tool to study certain behaviour of actions of groups on metric spaces. The main theorem is the following: Theorem 1.1. Let \(X\) be a finite dimensional, second countable and locally compact flow space for a group \(G\). Let \(\alpha, \beta\) be positive real numbers. Then, there is a \(\mathrm{Vcyc}\)-cover \(\mathcal{U}\) of \(X\) of dimension at most \(7\dim(X)+7\) such that, for every \(x\in X\), there is an open set \(U\in\mathcal{U}\) with \(\Phi_{[\alpha,\alpha]}(x)\subseteq U\) and for every \(U\in\mathcal{U}\), there is an \(x\in X\) with \(U\subseteq B_{\delta}(\Phi_{\mathbb{R}}(x))\).