  The k-dimensional Dehn (or isoperimetric) function of a group bounds the
volume of efficient ball-fillings of k-spheres mapped into k-connected spaces
on which the group acts properly and cocompactly; the bound is given as a
function of the volume of the sphere. We advance significantly the observed
range of behavior for such functions. First, to each non-negative integer
matrix P and positive rational number r, we associate a finite, aspherical
2-complex X_{r,P} and calculate the Dehn function of its fundamental group
G_{r,P} in terms of r and the Perron-Frobenius eigenvalue of P. The range of
functions obtained includes x^s, where s is an arbitrary rational number
greater than or equal to 2. By repeatedly forming multiple HNN extensions of
the groups G_{r,P} we exhibit a similar range of behavior among
higher-dimensional Dehn functions, proving in particular that for each positive
integer k and rational s greater than or equal to (k+1)/k there exists a group
with k-dimensional Dehn function x^s. Similar isoperimetric inequalities are
obtained for arbitrary manifold pairs (M,\partial M) in addition to
(B^{k+1},S^k).
