Cohomology and the Bowditch boundary (Q2225032)

Let \(G\) be a Gromov hyperbolic group and \(\partial G\) be its (Gromov) boundary. \textit{M. Bestvina} and \textit{G. Mess} proved in [J. Am. Math. Soc. 4, No. 3, 469--481 (1991; Zbl 0767.20014)] that there is an isomorphism \(H^{k}(G;A[G])\cong \check{H}^{k-1}(\partial G;A)\) for all \(k\geq 1\) and all rings \(A\). The purpose of this work is to extend such a result to the relative case, that is, to the case of a relative hyperbolic pair \((G,\mathcal{P})\), where \(G\) is hyperbolic and \(\mathcal{P}\) is a suitable family of subgroups of \(G\). Additionally, the authors analyse Poincaré duality hyperbolic pairs \((G,\mathcal{P})\). In the relative case, the relative boundary \(\partial(G,\mathcal{P})\) is the \textit{Bowditch} boundary, this is the boundary of the combinatorial cusped space for the pair. The main task in this paper is to handle this boundary. This is achieved by constructing what the authors call an \(N\)-connected cusped space, \( \chi (N)\), for the elements of \(\mathcal{P}\) and \(G\). The authors prove that the space \(\chi(N)\) is isometric to the combinatorial cusped space for the pair. The advantage of \(\chi(N)\) is that the cohomological properties are handled better. The main result is \textbf{Theorem 1.1.} Let \((G,\mathcal{P})\) be a relatively hyperbolic pair, assume that \(G\) and all members of \(\mathcal{P}\) are of type \(F_{\infty}\). Then there is an isomorphism of \(A[G]\)-modules \(H^{k}(G,\mathcal{P};A[G])\to \check{H}^{k-1} (\partial(G,\mathcal{P});A)\) for all \(k\geq 1\) and all rings \(A\). Another application of the analysis of the cusped space \(\chi(N)\) is the following \textbf{Theorem 1.3.} Assume \((G,\mathcal{P})\) is a relatively hyperbolic pair and that \(G\) and all members of \(\mathcal{P}\) have a classifying space with finitely many cells. Then, the following assertions are equivalent: (1) \((G,\mathcal{P})\) is a \(PD(n)\) pair; (2) \(\partial(G,\mathcal{P})\) is a homology \((n-1)\)-manifold and an integral \(\check{H}\)-cohomology \((n-1)\)-sphere, where \((G,\mathcal{P})\) is called a \(PD(n)\)-pair if \(H^{n}(G,\mathcal{P};\mathbb{Z}[G])=\tilde{\mathbb{Z}}\) and \(H^{k}(G,\mathcal{P};\mathbb{Z}[G])=0\) for \(k\not= n\).