The missing boundary problem for smooth manifolds of dimension greater than or equal to six (Q1059900)

Given a compact manifold, a noncompact one may be obtained by deleting a compact subset of the boundary. The ''missing boundary problem'' is to reverse this; determine when a noncompact manifold can be completed by adding boundary. L. Siebenmann (thesis) has given a solution when the dimension is at least six and the entire boundary is missing. His methods easily extend to the case where a codimension zero submanifold of the boundary is missing, i.e. there is an open collar of the end of the boundary of the given manifold. In this paper the author gives a solution when a nearly arbitrary compactum is missing. A new obstruction (in \(\lim^ 1\) of an inverse system of Whitehead groups) is encountered, coming from irregularities in fundamental groups near the ends of the boundary. The ''missing boundary problem'' in this generality has been treated by \textit{T. W. Tucker} [Topology 13, 267-273 (1974; Zbl 0289.57009)] for 3- manifolds, and by \textit{T. A. Chapman} and \textit{L. C. Siebenmann} [Acta Math. 137 (1976), 171-208 (1977; Zbl 0361.57008)] for Hilbert cube manifolds.