Local topological properties of asymptotic cones of groups

Abstract

We define a local analogue to Gromov's loop division property which we use to give a sufficient condition for an asymptotic cone of a complete geodesic metric space to have uncountable fundamental group. When considering groups our condition allows us to relate the local connectedness properties of the asymptotic cone with combinatorial properties of the group. This is used to understand the asymptotic cones of many groups actively being studied in the literature.