Every finite complex has the homology of some CAT(0) cubical duality group

Abstract

We prove that every finite connected simplicial complex has the homology of the classifying space for some $\mathrm{CAT}(0)$ cubical duality group. More specifically, for any finite simplicial complex $X$, we construct a locally $\mathrm{CAT}(0)$ cubical complex $T_{X}$ and an acyclic map $t_{X} : T_{X} \to X$ such that $\pi_1(T_X)$ is a duality group.