The distortion dimension of $$\mathbb $$-rank 1 lattices

Let \(X=G/K\) be a symmetric space of noncompact type and rank \(k\ge 2\). We prove that horospheres in X are Lipschitz \((k-2)\)-connected if their centers are not contained in a proper join factor of the spherical building of X at infinity. As a consequence, the distortion dimension of an irreducible \(\mathbb {Q}\)-rank-1 lattice \(\Gamma \) in a linear, semisimple Lie group G of \(\mathbb R\)-rank k is \(k-1\). That is, given \(m< k-1\), a Lipschitz m-sphere S in (a polyhedral complex quasi-isometric to) \(\Gamma \), and a \((m+1)\)-ball B in X (or G) filling S, there is a \((m+1)\)-ball \(B'\) in \(\Gamma \) filling S such that \({{\mathrm{vol}}}B'\sim {{\mathrm{vol}}}B\). In particular, such arithmetic lattices satisfy Euclidean isoperimetric inequalities up to dimension \(k-1\).