Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Let G be a finite graph topologically embedded in the interior of a 3-manifold M. Doyle (4) and Debrunner and Fox (3) have noted that the following local homotopy condition at each point p ∈ G is necessary in order for the embedding of G to be tame:
For each sufficiently small open set U containing p, there is an open set V such that p ∈ V ⊂ U and if W is any connected open set such that p ∈ W ⊂ V, then the image under the inclusion homomorphism i*: π1(W — G) → π1(U — G) is a free group on n — 1 generators.