Nonnegative Ricci curvature, metric cones, and virtual abelianness

Abstract

Let $M$ be an open $n$-manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature. We prove that if its escape rate is not $1/2$ and its Riemannian universal cover is conic at infinity, that is, every asymptotic cone $(Y,y)$ of the universal cover is a metric cone with vertex $y$, then $\pi_1(M)$ contains an abelian subgroup of finite index. If in addition the universal cover has Euclidean volume growth of constant at least $L$, we can further bound the index by a constant $C(n,L)$.