Let $X$ be a complex manifold and $M\subset X$ a compact, smooth, pseudoconvex CR manifold of dimension $2n-1$. (Here $n\ge 3$ or, in case $n=2$, it is made the extra assumption that $\dib_b$ has closed range on functions.) Assume that there exists a strictly CR-plurisubharmonic function in a neighborhood of $M$ in $X$. In this situation, there are here proved \begin{enumerate}
\item[(i)] The global existence of $C^\infty$ solutions to the tangential Cauchy-Riemann operator $\dib_b$.
\item[(ii)] The global hypoellipticity of the Kohn-Laplacian $\Box_b$, under the additional condition of "weak Property (P)".
\end{enumerate}
We prove local hypoellipticity of the complex Laplacian $\Box$ and of the Kohn Laplacian $\Box_b$ in a pseudoconvex boundary when, for a system of cut-off $η$, the gradient $\partial_bη$ and the Levi form $\partial_b\bar\partial_bη^2$ are subelliptic multipliers in the sense of Kohn.
A bounded domain in several complex variables with connected Lipschitz boundary is pseudoconvex if and only if the bottom of the (essential) spectrum of the Kohn Laplacian is positive on all (0, q)-forms with square-integrable coefficients.
This paper is concerned with proving superlogarithmic estimates for the operator $\Box_b$ on pseudoconvex CR manifolds and using them to establish hypoellipticity of $\Box_b$ and of the $\bar{\partial}$-Neumann problem. These estimates are established under the assumption that subellipticity degenerates in certain specified ways.
We give sharp and explicit upper bounds for the first positive eigenvalue $λ_1(\Box_b)$ of the Kohn-Laplacian on compact strictly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{C}^{n+1}$ in terms of their defining functions. As an application, we show that in the family of real ellipsoids, $λ_1(\Box_b)$ has a unique maximum value at the CR sphere.
In this paper we prove local analytic hypoellipticity for a degenerate sum of squares of complex vector fields generalizing those of Kohn in "Hypoellipticity and Loss of Derivatives". Kohn's article is to appear in the Annals of Mathematics with an appendix by Derridj and Tartakoff proving local analyticity in that case. Here we consider vector fields corresponding to a CR manifold of finite type so there is a kind of double degeneracy, and prove local analyticity using our balanced localization of high derivatives in the "missing" direction T. In a forthcoming paper, Bove, Derridj, Kohn and T…
The goal of this note is to explore the relationship between the Folland-Kohn basic estimate and the $Z(q)$-condition. In particular, on unbounded pseudoconvex (resp., pseudoconcave) domains, we prove that the Folland-Kohn basic estimate is equivalent to uniform strict pseudoconvexity (resp., pseudoconcavity). As a corollary, we observe that despite the Siegel upper half space being strictly pseudoconvex and biholomorphic to a the unit ball, it fails to satisfy uniform strict pseudoconvexity and hence the Folland-Kohn basic estimate fails. On unbounded non-pseudoconvex domains, we show that th…
This paper presents a class of domains on which the Kohn Laplacian and the dib-bar-Neumann problem are hypoelliptic but not superlogarithmic and which, moreover, have a set of points of Levi-degeneracy with positive CR dimension.
We give an explicit verifiable characterization of weakly pseudoconvex but locally nonconvexifiable hypersurfaces of finite type in dimension two. It is expressed in terms of a generalized model, which captures local geometry of the hypersurface both in the complex tangential and nontangential directions. As an application we obtain a new class of nonconvexifiable pseudoconvex hypersurfaces with convex models.
We prove rigidity for the Lichnerowicz-type eigenvalue estimate for the Kohn Laplacian on strictly pseudoconvex three-manifolds with nonnegative CR Paneitz operator and positive Webster curvature.
This note discusses the problem of the effective termination of Kohn's algorithm for subelliptic multipliers for bounded smooth weakly pseudoconvex domains of finite type. We give a complete proof for the case of special domains of finite type and indicate briefly how this method is to be extended to the case of general bounded smooth weakly pseudoconvex domains of finite type.
We prove extension results for meromorphic functions by combining the Kohn-Rossi extension theorems with Andreotti's theory on the algebraic and analytic dependence of meromorphic functions on pseudoconcave manifolds. Versions of Kohn-Rossi theorems for pseudoconvex domains are included.
We solve $\square_b$ on a class of non-compact 3-dimensional strongly pseudoconvex CR manifolds via a certain conformal equivalence. The idea is to make use of a related $\square_b$ operator on a compact 3-dimensional strongly pseudoconvex CR manifold, which we solve using a pseudodifferential calculus. The way we solve $\square_b$ works whenever $\overline{\partial}_b$ on the compact CR manifold has closed range in $L^2$; in particular, as in Beals and Greiner, it does not require the CR manifold to be the boundary of a strongly pseudoconvex domain in $\mathbb{C}^2$. Our result provides in tu…
Let $X$ be a compact connected CR manifold of dimension $2n-1, n\geq 2$ with a transversal CR $S^1$-action on $X$. We study the Fourier components of the Kohn-Rossi cohomology with respect to the $S^1$-action. By studying the Szegö kernel of the Fourier components we establish the Morse inequalities on $X$. Using the Morse inequalities we have established on $X$ we prove that there are abundant CR functions on $X$ when $X$ is weakly pseudoconvex and strongly pseudoconvex at a point.
We prove non-subelliptic estimates for the tangential Cauchy-Riemann system over a weakly "$q$-pseudoconvex" higher codimensional submanifold $M$ of $\C^n$. Let us point out that our hypotheses do not suffice to guarantee subelliptic estimates, in general. Even more: hypoellipticity of the tangential C-R system is not in question (as shows the example by Kohn in case of a Levi-flat hypersurface). However our estimates suffice for existence of smooth solutions to the inhomogeneous C-R equations in certain degree. The main ingredients in our proofs are the weighted $L^2$ estimates by Hörmander a…
We prove a modified form of the classical Morrey-Kohn-Hörmander identity, adapted to pseudoconcave boundaries. Applying this result to an annulus between two bounded pseudoconvex domains in $\mathbb{C}^n$, where the inner domain has $\mathcal{C}^{1,1}$ boundary, we show that the $L^2$ Dolbeault cohomology group in bidegree $(p,q)$ vanishes if $1\leq q\leq n-2$ and is Hausdorff and infinite-dimensional if $q=n-1$, so that the Cauchy-Riemann operator has closed range in each bidegree. As a dual result, we prove that the Cauchy-Riemann operator is solvable in the $L^2$ Sobolev space $W^1$ on any …
We describe along the guidelines of Kohn "Quantitative estimates..." (1999), the constant E_s which is needed to control the commutator of a totally real vector field T with di-bar* in order to have Sobolev s-regularity of the Bergman projection in any degree of forms, on a smooth pseudoconvex domain D of the complex space. This statement, not explicit in Kohn's paper, yields Straube's Theorem in "A sufficient condition..." (2008). Next, we refine the pseudodifferential calculus at the boundary in order to relate, for a defining function r of D, the operators (T^+)^{-delta/2} and (-r)^{delta/2…
Let $(M,θ)$ be a compact strictly pseudoconvex pseudohermitian manifold which is CR embedded into a complex space. In an earlier paper, Lin and the authors gave several sharp upper bounds for the first positive eigenvalue $λ_1$ of the Kohn-Laplacian $\Box_b$ on $(M,θ)$. In the present paper, we give a sharp upper bound for $λ_1$, generalizing and extending some previous results. As a corollary, we obtain a Reilly-type estimate when $M$ is embedded into the standard sphere. In another direction, using a Lichnerowicz-type estimate by Chanillo, Chiu, and Yang and an explicit formula for the Webst…
A real hypersurface in $\mathbb{C}^2$ is said to be Reinhardt if it is invariant under the standard $\mathbb{T}^2$-action on $\mathbb{C}^2$. Its CR geometry can be described in terms of the curvature function of its ``generating curve'', i.e., the logarithmic image of the hypersurface in the plane $\mathbb{R}^2$. We give a sharp upper bound for the first positive eigenvalue of the Kohn Laplacian associated to a natural pseudohermitian structure on a compact and strictly pseudoconvex Reinhardt real hypersurface having closed generating curve (which amounts to the $\mathbb{T}^2$-action being fre…
Let $Ω$ be a pseudoconvex domain in $\mathbb C^n$ with smooth boundary $bΩ$. We define general estimates $(f\text{-}\mathcal M)^k_Ω$ and $(f\text{-}\mathcal M)^k_{bΩ}$ on $k$-forms for the complex Laplacian $\Box$ on $Ω$ and the Kohn-Laplacian $\Box_b$ on $bΩ$. For $1\le k\le n-2$, we show that $(f\text{-}\mathcal M)^k_{bΩ}$ holds if and only if $(f\text{-}\mathcal M)^k_Ω$ and $(f\text{-}\mathcal M)^{n-k-1}_Ω$ hold. Our proof relies on Kohn's method in [Ann. of Math. (2), 156(1):213--248, 2002].
Let $(\hat{X}, T^{1,0} \hat{X})$ be a compact orientable CR embeddable three dimensional strongly pseudoconvex CR manifold, where $T^{1,0} \hat{X}$ is a CR structure on $\hat{X}$. Fix a point $p \in \hat{X}$ and take a global contact form $\hatθ$ so that $\hatθ$ is asymptotically flat near $p$. Then $(\hat{X}, T^{1,0} \hat{X}, \hatθ)$ is a pseudohermitian $3$-manifold. Let $G_p \in C^{\infty} (\hat{X} \setminus \{p\})$, $G_p > 0$, with $G_p(x) \sim \vartheta(x,p)^{-2}$ near $p$, where $\vartheta(x,y)$ denotes the natural pseudohermitian distance on $\hat{X}$. Consider the new pseudohermitian $…
Let $M$ be a compact, pseudoconvex-oriented, $(2n+1)$-dimensional, abstract CR manifold of hypersurface type, $n\geq 2$. We prove the following: (i) If $M$ admits a strictly CR-plurisubharmonic function on $(0,q_0)$-forms, then the complex Green operator $G_q$ exists and is continuous on $L^2_{0,q}(M)$ for degrees $q_0\le q\le n-q_0$. In the case that $q_0=1$, we also establish continuity for $G_0$ and $G_n$. Additionally, the $\bar\partial_b$-equation on $M$ can be solved in $C^\infty(M)$. (ii) If $M$ satisfies "a weak compactness property" on $(0,q_0)$-forms, then $G_q$ is a continuous opera…
Let $X$ be an abstract not necessarily compact orientable CR manifold of dimension $2n-1$, $n\geqslant2$. Let $\Box^{(q)}_{b}$ be the Gaffney extension of Kohn Laplacian for $(0,q)$-forms. We show that the spectral function of $\Box^{(q)}_b$ admits a full asymptotic expansion on the non-degenerate part of the Levi form. As a corollary, we deduce that if $X$ is compact and the Levi form is non-degenerate of constant signature on $X$, then the spectrum of $\Box^{(q)}_b$ in $]0,\infty[$ consists of point eigenvalues of finite multiplicity. Moreover, we show that a certain microlocal conjugation o…
We introduce a new geometrical invariant of CR manifolds of hypersurface type, which we dub the "Levi core" of the manifold. When the manifold is the boundary of a smooth bounded pseudoconvex domain, we show how the Levi core is related to two other important global invariants in several complex variables: the Diederich--Fornæss index and the D'Angelo class (namely the set of D'Angelo forms of the boundary). We also show that the Levi core is trivial whenever the domain is of finite-type in the sense of D'Angelo, or the set of weakly pseudoconvex points is contained in a totally real submanifo…
This paper is the first of a three part series in which we explore geometric and analytic properties of the Kohn Laplacian and its inverse on general quadric submanifolds of $\mathbb{C}^n\times\mathbb{C}^m$. In this paper, we present a streamlined calculation for a general integral formula for the complex Green operator $N$ and the projection onto the nullspace of $\Box_b$. The main application of our formulas is the critical case of codimension two quadrics in $\mathbb{C}^4$ where we discuss the known solvability and hypoellipticity criteria of Peloso and Ricci \cite{PeRi03}. We also provide …
We study the $\bar{\partial}_b$-Neumann problem for domains $Ω$ contained in a strictly pseudoconvex manifold M^{2n+1} whose boundaries are noncharacteristic and have defining functions depending solely on the real and imaginary parts of a single CR function w. When the Kohn Laplacian is a priori known to have closed range in L^2, we prove sharp regularity and estimates for solutions. We establish a condition on the boundary which is sufficient for the Kohn Laplacian to be Fredholm on $L^2_{(0,q)}(Ω)$ and show that this condition always holds when M is embedded as a hypersurface in C^{n+1}. We…
This note is aimed at simplifying current literature about compactness estimates for the Kohn-Laplacian on CR manifolds. The approach consists in a tangential basic estimate in the formulation given by the first author in \cite{Kh10} which refines former work by Nicoara \cite{N06}. It has been proved by Raich \cite{R10} that on a CR manifold of dimension $2n-1$ which is compact pseudoconvex of hypersurface type embedded in $\C^n$ and orientable, the property named "$(CR-P_q)$" for $1\leq q\leq \frac{n-1}2$, a generalization of the one introduced by Catlin in \cite{C84}, implies compactness est…
It is here proved that if a pseudoconvex CR manifold $M$ of hypersurface type has a certain "type", that we quantify by a vanishing rate $F$ at a submanifold of CR dimension $0$, then $\Box_b$ "gains $f^2$ derivatives" where $f$ is defined by inversion of $F$. Indeed the estimate is more accurate and it involves the Levi form of $M$ and of additional weights, instead of $\Box_b$. Next a general tangential estimate, "twisted" by a pseudodifferential operator $Ψ$ is established. The combination of the two yields a general "$f$-estimate" twisted by $Ψ$. We apply the twisted estimate for $Ψ$ which…
