A comparison-estimate of Toponogov type for Ricci curvature (Q1907192)

A comparison estimate is given for small hinges in a complete manifold with a Ricci lower bound. The estimate is then used to show that a complete nonnegatively Ricci curved manifold with diameter growth \(= o(r^{1/n})\) \((n = \dim)\) and a positive conjugate radius is of finite topological type.