A construction of classifying spaces for \(p\)-adic group actions (Q2569012)

The Hilbert-Smith conjecture, also known as the Hilbert's fifth problem, asserts that among the locally compact groups the Lie groups are the only ones acting effectively on finite dimensional manifolds. After \textit{M. H. A. Newmann} [Q. J. Math., Oxf. Ser. 2, 1--8 (1931; Zbl 0001.22703, JFM 57.0496.02)] and \textit{P. A. Smith} [Ann. Math. 42, 446--458 (1941; Zbl 0027.26602, JFM 67.0743.01)], it is known that to prove this conjecture it is enough to prove that the group of the \(p\)-adic integers \(\widehat{\mathbb{Z}}_{p}\) does not admit effective actions on a manifold. A natural approach to the conjecture is to work with classifying spaces of \(\widehat{\mathbb{Z}}_{p}\) which also leads naturally to the Menger compacta. In this paper a model for the classifying space of \(\widehat{\mathbb{Z}}_{p}\) is constructed. The construction rests upon the concept of an \textit{absorber} . Given a topological space \(X\) and a closed subspace \(A\subseteq X\), it is said that \(A\) is an \((n,\varepsilon)\)-absorber of \(X\), if for any \(f:S^{k}\rightarrow X\) there exists an \(\varepsilon\)-homotopy \( H:S^{k}\times I\rightarrow X\)\ fixed over A which is such that \(H(x,0)=f(x)\) and \(Im(H(\cdot ,1))\subseteq A\). The author inductively constructs a sequence \(X_{1},\dots ,X_{m}\) of compacta such that \(W_{k}\cap X_{k+1}\) is an \(\left(n,\frac{\varepsilon}{m}\right)\)-absorber of \(X_{k+1}\) where \(W_{k}=X_{1}\cup \dots \cup X_{k}\), so that \(X_{1}\) is an \((n,\varepsilon)\)-absorber of \(W\). Some useful properties of \(W\) are proved: it is a metric space, it is \((n-1)\)-connected, \((n-1)\)-locally connected, it has dimension \(n\) so that by [\textit{A. N. Dranishikov} and \textit{J. E. West}, Topology Appl. 80, 101--114 (1997; Zbl 0883.55002)] it has Urysohn diameter 0, it satisfies the disjoint \(n\)-cells property and finally because of the uniqueness of the \(n\)-dimensioinal Menger compactum \(\mu ^{n}\), see [\textit{M. Bestvina}, Mem. Am. Math. Soc. 71, No. 380 (1988; Zbl 0645.54029)], \(W\) is homeomorphic to \(\mu ^{n}\).