Reflection groups of geodesic spaces and Coxeter groups (Q2493895)

\textit{H. S. Coxeter} showed in [Ann. Math. 35, 588--621 (1934; Zbl 0010.01101); J. Lond. Math. Soc. 10, 21--25 (1935; Zbl 0010.34202)] that a group \(\Gamma\) is a finite reflection group of a Euclidean space if and only if \(\Gamma\) is a finite Coxeter group. The author extends this characterization to a general Coxeter group, by using reflections of a geodesic space. An isometry \(r\) of a geodesic space \(X\) is called a reflection of \(X\) if (1) \(r^{2}\) is the identity of \(X\); (2) \(X \setminus F_{r}\) has exactly two convex connected components \(X^{+}_{r}\) and \(X^{-}_{r}\); (3) \(rX^{+}_{r} = X^{-}_{r}\); and (4) \(int F_{r} = \emptyset\), where \(F_{r}\) is the set of fixed points of \(r\). An isometry group \(\Gamma\) of a geodesic space \(X\) is called a reflection group if some set of reflections of \(X\) generates \(\Gamma\). It is known by \textit{M. W. Davis} [Ann. Math. 117, 293--324 (1983; Zbl 0531.57041)] and \textit{G. Moussong} [Hyperbolic Coxeter groups, Ph.D. Thesis, The Ohio State University, (1988)] that every Coxeter group is a cocompact discrete reflection group of some geodesic space. In this paper, the author establishes that this property characterizes Coxeter groups: Theorem: A group \(\Gamma\) is a cocompact discrete reflection group of some geodesic space if and only if \(\Gamma\) is a Coxeter group.