Properties of sets of isometries of Gromov hyperbolic spaces (Q1784007)

The Berger-Wang Theorem controls the joint spectral radius of a bounded set of square real matrices. In this paper the author generalizes the concept of the stable length of an isometry, defining the `joint stable length' of a bounded set of isometries of a Gromov hyperbolic space and proves a result similar to the Berger-Wang Theorem, without requiring that the space be proper or geodesic. The hyperbolicity of a semigroup of isometries is shown to be equivalent to the semigroup having positive joint stable length. When the set of non-empty compact subsets of the isometry group is endowed with the Vietoris topology (equivalent to the Hausdorff topology if the isometry group is metrizable), the joint stable length is continuous.