Contractible noncompact 3-manifold without boundary not homeomorphic to $\Bbb R^3$ - MathOverflow

Contractible noncompact 3-manifold without boundary not homeomorphic to $\Bbb R^3$

2011-11-24T15:19:11Z

I heard this example was given in Whitehead's paper A CERTAIN OPEN MANIFOLD WHOSE GROUP IS UNITY.( http://qjmath.oxfordjournals.org/content/os-6/1/268.full.pdf ) But I was confused by his term. Thus I'm looking for an explanation in more standard terms about this example.

But since my aim is to know about an example of this kind, any alternative will do either.

Answer by Marco Golla for Contractible noncompact 3-manifold without boundary not homeomorphic to $\Bbb R^3$

2011-11-24T15:35:47Z

It's discussed in Kirby's "The topology of 4-manifolds", around page 80, and at a glance the argument looks "modern".

Answer by Richard Kent for Contractible noncompact 3-manifold without boundary not homeomorphic to $\Bbb R^3$

2011-11-24T15:40:57Z

The manifold is the Whitehead manifold.