Slowly oscillating functions in semigroup compactifications and convolution algebras

The paper proposes a unified approach to many key theorems proved in the last twenty years in different areas of abstract harmonic analysis. This approach is based on the so-called slowly oscillating functions which were introduced in coarse geometry. In addition to this method being the most natural and simple, it also leads to the generalisation of some of the results and to the achievement of some new results. Several of these results concern the topological centres of convolution algebras and semigroup compactifications.