Peano dimension of fundamental groups (Q2074383)

The notion of dimension is very important in mathematics, and especially in topology, because it gives a precise parameterization of the conceptual or visual complexity of any geometric (or topological) object. The dimension of a space is a sort of a topological measure of the size of its covering properties. For instance, the classical \textit {Lebesgue covering dimension} of a topological space, also called \textit {topological dimension}, is the smallest number \(n\) such that for every cover, there is a refinement in which every point in \(X\) lies in the intersection of no more than \(n +1\) covering sets. Since finitely presented groups can be considered simultaneously as both algebraic and geometric objects, there are several interrelated notions of dimensions for them. There is the old algebraic concept of cohomological dimension and the much more topological notion of geometric dimension. The \textit {geometric dimension} of a finitely presented group \(G\) is the minimal dimension of a space with fundamental group \(G\) and contractible universal cover. The main problem with this definition is its calculation for fundamental groups of spaces which are, locally, not tame. In order to get around this difficulty, Cannon and Conner have defined the so-called \textit {homotopy dimension} of a topological space, that is the minimum covering dimension of any Hausdorff space homotopy equivalent to it. In the paper under review another type of dimension is defined and studied for groups (also for those with non-trivial local topological behaviour) as follows. The \textit {Peano dimension} of a group \(G\) is the minimum covering dimension among aspherical Peano continua with fundamental group \(G\). If there is no such Peano continuum, then the Peano dimension of \(G\) is undefined. Recall that a \textit {Peano continuum} is a nonempty compact connected metric space that is locally connected at each point. The main theorems of the paper are partial answers to the following conjecture: the homotopy dimension is an invariant of the fundamental group of an aspherical Peano continuum.