Contractible open manifolds which are not covering spaces (Q1196966)

Inspired by 3-dimensional results of \textit{R. Myers} [Topology 27, 27-35 (1988; Zbl 0658.57007)], the author presents a very general analysis of whether a given contractible \(n\)-manifold can be the universal cover of another manifold. He writes that a space \(X\) is eventually \(\pi_ 1\)- injective at infinity if it contains a compact subset \(K\) such that to every compact set \(A\) there corresponds a larger compact set \(B\) such that all loops in \(X\setminus B\) which contract in \(X\setminus K\) actually do so in \(X\setminus A\). In this terminology the main theorem establishes that no contractible \(n\)-manifold (\(n\geq 3\)) which is both eventually \(\pi_ 1\)-injective and nonsimply connected at infinity can nontrivially cover another manifold. Consequently, interiors of compact, contractible \(n\)-manifolds with nonsimply connected boundary cannot be nontrivial coverings. The author concludes by describing higher- dimensional versions of Whitehead's famous contractible open 3-manifold, none of which are nontrivial coverings. Examples developed by \textit{M. W. Davis} [Ann. Math., II. Ser. 117, 293-324 (1983; Zbl 0531.57041)] of contractible open \(n\)-manifolds (\(n > 3\)) different from \(\mathbb{R}^ n\) that do cover closed \(n\)-manifolds heighten interest in the still unsettled issue about the potential existence of comparable 3-manifolds.