Given a compact Lie group G acting freely on a topological manifold M, is it true that the orbit space M/G is also a topological manifold? If so, why?



orbit space of a topological manifold
The answer is no. Bing constructed a space $X$ (called [the dogbone space](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogbone_space)) so that $X$ is not a manifold, but $X\times R$ is homeomorphic to $R^4$. In particular, $M^4=X\times S^1$ is a $4$-manifold (since its universal cover is $R^4$) and $X$ is the quotient of $M^4$ by free $S^1$-action. 


