CAT(0) Spaces of Higher Rank I

Abstract

A CAT(0) space has rank at least n if every geodesic lies in an n-flat. Ballmann’s Higher Rank Rigidity Conjecture predicts that a CAT(0) space of rank at least 2 with a geometric group action is rigid – isometric to a Riemannian symmetric space, a Euclidean building, or splits as a metric product. This paper is the first in a series motivated by Ballmann’s conjecture. Here we prove that a CAT(0) space of rank at least n≥2 is rigid if it contains a periodic n-flat and its Tits boundary has dimension (n−1). This does not require a geometric group action. The result relies essentially on the study of flats which do not bound flat half-spaces – so-called Morse flats. We show that the Tits boundary ∂TF of a periodic Morse n-flat F contains a regular point – a point with a Tits-neighborhood entirely contained in ∂TF. More precisely, we show that the set of singular points in ∂TF can be covered by finitely many round spheres of positive codimension.