Connectivity properties of group actions on non-positively curved spaces I: Controlled connectivity and openness results

Let G be a group and let M be a CAT(0) proper metric space (e.g. a simply connected complete Riemannian manifold of non-positive sectional curvature or a locally finite tree). Isometric actions of G on M are (by definition) points in the space R := Hom(G, Isom(M)) with the compact open topology. Sample theorems: 1. The cocompact actions form an open subset of R. 2. The cocompact actions with discrete orbits whose point-stabilizers have type F_n form an open subset of the subspace of R consisting of all actions with discrete orbits. (F_1 means finitely generated, F_2 means finitely presented etc.) The key idea is to introduce a new "controlled topology" invariant of such actions - dependent on n - which is unfamiliar when the orbits are not discrete but which becomes familiar (cf 2.) when the orbits are discrete. (This is the first of two papers.)