Rings associated with hyperbolic groups

Abstract We define quasiconvexity cone Qcone(τ) over an infinite hyperbolic (in the sense of Gromov) group τ as the set of conjugacy classes of infinite quasiconvex subgroups H?τ and show that the abelian group of Qcone(τ)-divisors, i.e. finite sums of points from Qcone(τ) with integer coefficients, can be equipped with a natural structure of commutative associative ring with identity. Euler characteristic can be considered as a rational-valued function on Qcone(τ). This approach gives another point of view on the strengthened form of Hanna Neumann's conjecture on the maximal rank of the intersection of two finitely generated subgroups of the free group on two generators.