The Novikov conjecture and groups with finite asymptotic dimension ∗

Recall that the asymptotic dimension is a coarse geometric analogue of the covering dimension in topology [14]. More precisely, the asymptotic dimension for a metric space is the smallest integer n such that for any r > 0, there exists a uniformly bounded cover C = {Ui}i∈I of the metric space for which the rmultiplicity of C is at most n + 1, i.e. no ball of radius r in the metric space intersects more than n + 1 members of C [14]. The class of finitely generated discrete groups with finite asymptotic dimension is hereditary in the sense that if a finitely generated group has finite asymptotic dimension as metric space