We prove the following: For $ε>0$, let $D_ε$ be the bounded strictly pseudoconvex domain in $\mathbb C^2$ given by \begin{equation*} (\log|z|)^2+(\log|w|)^2<ε^2. \end{equation*} The boundary $M_ε:=\partial D_ε\subset \mathbb C^2$ is a compact strictly pseudoconvex CR manifold without umbilical points. This resolves a long-standing question in complex analysis that goes back to the work of S.-S. Chern and J. K. Moser in 1974.
The main objective of this paper is to survey some recent results on the Chern--Moser question concerning existence of umbilical points on three dimensional CR submanifolds in $\mathbb C^2$.
The question of existence of umbilical points, in the CR sense, on compact, three dimensional, strictly pseudoconvex CR manifolds was raised in the seminal paper by S.-S. Chern and J. K. Moser in 1974. In the present paper, we consider compact, three dimensional, strictly pseudoconvex CR manifolds that possess a free, transverse action by the circle group $U(1)$. We show that every such CR manifold $M$ has at least one orbit of umbilical points, {\it provided} that the Riemann surface $X:=M/U(1)$ is not a torus. In particular, every compact, circular and strictly pseudoconvex hypersurface in $…
Locally homogeneous strictly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces in $\mathbb C^2$ were classified by E.\,Cartan in 1932. In this work, we complete the classification of locally homogeneous strictly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces in $\mathbb C^3$.
We show that there are strictly pseudoconvex, real algebraic hypersurfaces in $\bC^{n+1}$ that cannot be locally embedded into a sphere in $\bC^{N+1}$ for any $N$. In fact, we show that there are strictly pseudoconvex, real algebraic hypersurfaces in $\bC^{n+1}$ that cannot be locally embedded into any compact, strictly pseudoconvex, real algebraic hypersurface.
We propose a proof of the characterization of spherical hypersurfaces as the only strictly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces which have contracting germs of diffeomorphisms. Unlike previous proofs, our approach does not use Chern-Moser theory. It only relies on Pinchuk dilation techniques. We also give some applications of this result.
The singular and regular type of a point on a real hypersurface $\mathcal H$ in $\mathbb C^n$ are shown to agree when the regular type is strictly less than 4. If $\mathcal H$ is pseudoconvex, we show they agree when the regular type is 4. A non-pseudoconvex example is given where the regular type is 4 and the singular type is infinite.
The purpose of this article is to prove that there exists a real smooth pseudoconvex hypersurface germ $(M,p)$ of D'Angelo infinite type in $\mathbb C^{n+1}$ such that it does not admit any (singular) holomorphic curve in $\mathbb C^{n+1}$ tangent to $M$ at $p$ to infinite order.
We study regularity properties of CR maps in positive codimension valued in pseudoconvex manifolds which carry a nontrivial Levi foliation. We introduce an invariant which can be used to deduce that any sufficiently regular CR map from a minimal manifold into such a foliated target is either generically smooth or geometrically highly constrained, and to show generic smoothness of sufficiently regular CR transversal CR maps between pseudoconvex hypersurfaces. As an application, we discuss boundary regularity of proper holomorphic maps into bounded symmetric domains.
Given a pseudoconvex hypersurface in C^n and an arbitrary weight, we show the existence of local coordinates in which the polynomial model contains a particularly simple sum of squares of monomials. Our second main result provides a normalization of a part of any Catlin boundary system. We illustrate by an example that this normalization cannot be extended to the rest of the boundary system due to the existence of what we refer to as torsion.
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.
We explicitly describe germs of strongly pseudoconvex non-spherical real-analytic hypersurfaces $M$ at the origin in $\CC^{n+1}$ for which the group of local CR-automorphisms preserving the origin has dimension $d_0(M)$ equal to either $n^2-2n+1$ with $n\ge 2$, or $n^2-2n$ with $n\ge 3$. The description is given in terms of equations defining hypersurfaces near the origin, written in the Chern-Moser normal form. These results are motivated by the classification of locally homogeneous Levi non-degenerate hypersurfaces in $\CC^3$ with $d_0(M)=1,2$ due to A. Loboda, and complement earlier joint w…
Let $D$ be a strictly pseudoconvex domain and $X$ be a singular analytic set of pure dimension $n-1$ in $C^n$ such that $X\cap D\neq \emptyset$ and $X\cap bD$ is transverse. We give sufficient conditions for a function holomorphic on $D\cap X$ to admit a holomorphic extension which belongs to $L^q(D),$ $q\in [1,+\infty[$, or to $BMO(D)$. The extension is given by mean of integral representation formulas and residue currents.
In this paper we denote a type of affine homogeneous real hypersurface of $\mathbb{C}^3$ and present a classification of homogeneous surfaces of the type (1/2,0). The result was obtained by reducing the classification problem mentioned above to the problem of solving a system of nonlinear (quadratic) equations. Solutions of such system represent all the Lie algebras corresponding to the homogeneous surfaces under consideration. Some details of integration procedure are discussed for obtained algebras.
We study various classes of real hypersurfaces that are not embeddable into more special hypersurfaces in higher dimension, such as spheres, real algebraic compact strongly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces or compact pseudoconvex hypersurfaces of finite type. We conclude by stating some open problems.
It follows from the 2004 work of the first author, X.Huang, and D. Zaitsev that any local CR embedding $f$ of a strictly psedoconvex hypersurface $M^{2n+1}\subset\bC^{n+1}$ into the sphere $\bS^{2N+1}\subset \bC^{N+1}$ is rigid, i.e.\ any other such local embedding is obtained from $f$ by composition by an automorphism of the target sphere $\bS^{2N+1}$, {\it provided} that the codimension $N-n<n/2$. In this paper, we consider the limit case $N-n=n/2$ in the simplest situation where $n=2$, i.e.\ we consider local CR embeddings $f\colon M^5\to \bS^7$. We show that there are at most two different…
We introduce analogues of a map due to Rossi and show how they can be used to explicitly determine all covers of certain homogeneous strongly pseudoconvex 3-dimensional hypersurfaces that appear in the classification obtained by E. Cartan in 1932.
Given a pseudoconvex domain U with C^1-boundary in P^n, n>2, we show that if H^{2n-2}_\dR}(U)\not=0, then there is a strictly psh function in a neighborhood of boundary U. We also solve the \dbar-equation in X=P^n\ U, for data smooth (0,1) forms on X. We also discuss Levi-flat domains in surfaces. If Z is a real algebraic hypersurface in P^2, (resp a real-analytic hypersurface with a point of strict pseudoconvexity), then there is a strictly psh function in a neighborhood of Z.
We define a complex connection on a real hypersurface of $\C^{n+1}$ which is naturally inherited from the ambient space. Using a system of Codazzi-type equations, we classify connected real hypersurfaces in $\C^{n+1}$, $n\ge 2$, which are Levi umbilical and have non zero constant Levi curvature. It turns out that such surfaces are contained either in a sphere or in the boundary of a complex tube domain with spherical section.
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 classify the Lie algebras of infinitesimal CR automorphisms of weakly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces of finite multitype in $\mathbb C^N$. In particular, we prove that such manifolds admit neither nonlinear rigid automorphisms, nor real or nilpotent rotations. As a consequence, this leads to a proof of a sharp 2-jet determination result for local automorphisms. Moreover, for hypersurfaces which are not balanced, CR automorphisms are uniquely determined by their 1-jets. The same classification is derived also for special models, given by sums of squares of polynomials. In particular, in the case…
We study the holomorphic embedding problem from a compact strongly pseudoconvex real algebraic hypersurface into a sphere of higher dimension. We construct a family of compact strongly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces $M_ε$ in $\mathbb{C}^2,$ and prove that for any integer $N$, there is a number $ε(N)$ with $0<ε(N)<1$ such that for any $ε$ with $0<ε<ε(N)$, $M_ε$ can not be locally holomorphically embedded into the unit sphere $\mathbb{S}^{2N-1}$ in $\mathbb{C}^N.$
Let $M$ be a pseudoconvex, oriented, bounded and closed CR submanifold of $\mathbb{C}^{n}$ of hypersurface type. Our main result says that when a certain $1$-form on $M$ is exact on the null space of the Levi form, then the complex Green operator on $M$ satisfies Sobolev estimates. This happens in particular when $M$ admits a set of plurisubharmonic defining functions or when $M$ is strictly pseudoconvex except for the points on a simply connected complex submanifold.
It is proved that the germ of a holomorphic map from a real analytic hypersurface M in C^n into a strictly pseudoconvex compact real algebraic hypersurface M' in C^N, 1 < n < N extends holomorphically along any path on M.
We show that the boundary of any bounded strongly pseudoconvex complete circular domain in $\mathbb C^2$ must contain points that are exceptionally tangent to a projective image of the unit sphere.
In the works of Darboux and Walsh it was remarked that a one to one self mapping of $\rr^3$ which sends convex sets to convex ones is affine. It can be remarked also that a $\calc^2$-diffeomorphism $F:U\to U^{'}$ between two domains in $\cc^n$, $n\ge 2$, which sends pseudoconvex hypersurfaces to pseudoconvex ones is either holomorphic or antiholomorphic. \smallskip In this note we are interested in the self mappings of $\cc^n$ which send convex hypersurfaces to pseudoconvex ones. Their characterization is the following: {\it A $\calc^2$ - diffeomorphism $F:U'\to U$ (where $U', U\subset \cc^n$ …
We show that if the Segre varieties of a strictly pseudoconvex hypersurface in $\mathbb{C}^2$ are extremal discs for the Kobayashi metric, then that hypersurface has to be locally spherical. In particular, this gives yet another characterization of the unit sphere in terms of two important invariant families of objects coinciding.
We prove that a meromorphic mapping, which sends a peace of a real analytic strictly pseudoconvex hypersurface in $\cc^2$ to a compact subset of $\cc^N$ which doesn't contain germs of non-constant complex curves is continuous from the concave side of the hypersurface. This implies the analytic continuability along CR-paths of germs of holomorphic mappings from real analytic hypersurfaces with non-vanishing Levi form to the locally spherical ones in all dimensions.
We prove that all locally exposable points in a Stein compact in a complex space can be exposed along a given curve to a given real hypersurface. Moreover, the exposing map for a boundary point can be sufficiently close to the identity map outside any fixed neighborhood of the point. We also prove a parametric version of this result for bounded strongly pseudoconvex domains in $\mathbb C^n$. For a bounded strongly pseudoconvex domain in $\mathbb C^n$ and a given boundary point of it, we prove that there is a global coordinate change on the closure of the domain which is arbitrarily close to th…
We present a new proof of Pinchuk's theorem on the analytic continuation of a biholomorphic mapping from a strongly pseudoconvex analytic real hypersurface to a compact strongly pseudoconvex analytic real hypersurface in a complex euclidean space.
A unimodular complex surface is a complex 2-manifold X endowed with a holomorphic volume form. A strictly pseudoconvex real hypersurface M in X inherits not only a CR-structure but a canonical coframing as well. In this article, this canonical coframing on M is defined, its invariants are discussed and interpreted geometrically, and its basic properties are studied. A natural evolution equation for strictly pseudoconvex real hypersurfaces in unimodular complex surfaces is defined, some of its properties are discussed, and several examples are computed. The locally homogeneous examples are dete…
In a recent expository article (Notices of the AMS, 58 (2011), no. 1, 20-27), Ezhov, McLaughlin and Schmalz showed how to perform in an effective way Tanaka's prolongation procedure valid generally for filtered structures of constant type when the distribution is equipped with an integrable complex structure, so as to derive the principal curvature invariants and (co)frame(s) associated to strongly pseudoconvex real hypersurfaces M3 in C2, an approach which is alternative and complementary to the `hyperspherical' connection of Elie Cartan, and to the so-called calculi of Fefferman, of Chern-Mo…
Let $M\subset \mathbb C^n$ be a real analytic hypersurface, $M'\subset \mathbb C^N$ $(N\geq n)$ be a strongly pseudoconvex real algebraic hypersurface of the special form and $F$ be a meromorphic mapping in a neighborhood of a point $p\in M$ which is holomorphic in one side of $M$. Assuming some additional conditions for the mapping $F$ on the hypersurface $M$, we proved that $F$ has a holomorphic extension to $p$. This result may be used to show the regularity of CR mappings between real hypersurfaces of different dimensions.
For a smooth strictly pseudoconvex hypersurface in a complex manifold, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for being CR-diffeomorphic to a real-analytic CR manifold. Our condition amounts to a holomorphic extension property for the canonically associated function expressing $2$-jets of the formal Segre varieties in terms of their $1$-jets. We also express this condition in equivalent terms for a Fefferman type determinant
In this paper, we investigate analytic and geometric properties of obstruction flatness of strongly pseudoconvex CR hypersurfaces of dimension $2n-1$. Our first two results concern local aspects. Theorem 3.2 asserts that any strongly pseudoconvex CR hypersurface $M\subset \mathbb{C}^n$ can be osculated at a given point $p\in M$ by an obstruction flat one up to order $2n+4$ generally and $2n+5$ if and only if $p$ is an obstruction flat point. In Theorem 4.1, we show that locally there are non-spherical but obstruction flat CR hypersurfaces with transverse symmetry for $n=2$. The final main resu…
We prove finite jet determination results for smooth CR embeddings which are of constant degeneracy, using the method of complete systems. As an application, we derive a reflection principle for mappings between a Levi-nondegenerate hypersurface in C^N and a Levi-nondegenerate hypersurface in C^{N+1}. We also give an independent proof of the reflection principle for mappings between strictly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces in any codimension due to Forstneric.
It is shown that if a proper holomorphic map $f: \mathbb C^n \to \mathbb C^N$, $1<n\le N$, sends a pseudoconvex real analytic hypersurface of finite type into another such hypersurface, then any $n-1$ dimensional component of the critical locus of $f$ intersects both sides of $M$. We apply this result to the problem of boundary regularity of proper holomorphic mappings between bounded domains in $\mathbb C^n$.
Let $M$ be a connected real-analytic hypersurface in $\C^N$ and $§$ the unit real sphere in $\C^{N'}$, $N'> N\geq 2$. Assume that $M$ does not contain any complex-analytic hypersurface of $\C^N$ and that there exists at least one strongly pseudoconvex point on $M$. We show that any CR map $f\colon M\to §$ of class $C^{N'-N+1}$ extends holomorphically to a neighborhood of $M$ in $\C^N$.
In this paper we prove a general result of the ``Hopf lemma'' type for CR mappings, with nonidentically vanishing Jacobians, between real hypersurfaces in C^n with smooth or real analytic boundaries. Applications of this result to finiteness and holomorphic extendibility of such mappings are also given. The novelty here is that we make no assumption on the nonflatness of the mapping or its Jacobian, nor do we assume that the hypersurfaces are pseudoconvex or minimally convex.
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…
In convex geometry, the Blaschke surface area measure on the boundary of a convex domain can be interpreted in terms of the complexity of approximating polyhedra. In response to a question raised by D. Barrett, this approach is formulated in the holomorphic setting to establish an alternate interpretation of Fefferman's hypersurface measure on boundaries of strictly pseudoconvex domains in $\mathbb{C}^2$. In particular, it is shown that Fefferman's measure can be recovered from the Bergman kernel of the domain. A connection with the geometry of the Heisenberg group, emerging from these results…
We establish compactness estimates for $\overline{\partial}_{b}$ on a compact pseudoconvex CR-submanifold of $\mathbb{C}^{n}$ of hypersurface type that satisfies property(P). When the submanifold is orientable, these estimates were proved by A.~Raich via microlocal methods. Our proof deduces the estimates from (a slight extension, when $q>1$, of) those known on hypersurfaces via the fact that locally, CR-submanifolds of hypersurface type are CR-equivalent to a hypersurface. The relationship between two potential theoretic conditions is also clarified.
Let M be a real analytic strictly pseudoconvex manifold of higher codimension in complex space, and let M' be the cartesian product of two or more compact real analytic strictly convex hypersurfaces. We prove that a germ of a biholomorphic map taking an open set in M to M' extends as a biholomorphic map along any path in M.
Let $M^{2n-1}$ be the smooth boundary of a bounded strongly pseudo-convex domain $Ω$ in a complete Stein manifold $V^{2n}$. Then (1) For $n \ge 3$, $M^{2n-1}$ admits a pseudo-Eistein metric; (2) For $n \ge 2$, $M^{2n-1}$ admits a Fefferman metric of zero CR Q-curvature; and (3) for a compact strictly pseudoconvex CR embeddable 3-manifold $M^3$, its CR Paneitz operator $P$ is a closed operator.
We establish compactness estimates for $\bar{\partial}_{M}$ on a compact pseudoconvex CR-submanifold $M$ of $\mathbb{C}^{n}$ of hypersurface type that satisfies the (analogue of the) geometric sufficient conditions for compactness of the $\bar{\partial}$-Neumann operator given by the authors earlier. These conditions are formulated in terms of certain short time flows in complex tangential directions.
Let $Ω$ be a pseudoconvex domain with $C^2$-smooth boundary in $\mathbb CP^n$. We prove that the $\bar\partial-Neumann operator $N$ exists for $(p,q)$-forms on $Ω$. Furthermore, there exists a $t_0>0$ such that the operators $N$, $\bar\partial^*N$, $\bar\partial N$ and the Bergman projection are regular in the Sobolev space $W^t (\barΩ) $ for $t<t_0$. The boundary estimates above have applications in complex geometry. We use the estimates to prove the nonexistence of $C^{2, α}$ real Levi-flat hypersurfaces in $\mathbb CP^n$. We also show that there exist no non-zero $L^2$-holomorphic $(p, 0)$-…
Obstruction flatness of a strongly pseudoconvex hypersurface $Σ$ in a complex manifold refers to the property that any (local) Kähler-Einstein metric on the pseudoconvex side of $Σ$, complete up to $Σ$, has a potential $-\log u$ such that $u$ is $C^\infty$-smooth up to $Σ$. In general, $u$ has only a finite degree of smoothness up to $Σ$. In this paper, we study obstruction flatness of hypersurfaces $Σ$ that arise as unit circle bundles $S(L)$ of negative Hermitian line bundles $(L, h)$ over Kähler manifolds $(M, g).$ We prove that if $(M,g)$ has constant Ricci eigenvalues, then $S(L)$ is obst…
We prove a sharp lower bound for the Tanaka-Webster holomorphic sectional curvature of strictly pseudoconvex real hypersurfaces that are "semi-isometrically" immersed in a Kähler manifold of nonnegative holomorphic sectional curvature under an appropriate convexity condition. This gives a partial answer to a question posed by Chanillo, Chiu, and Yang regarding the positivity of the Tanaka-Webster scalar curvature of the boundary of a strictly convex domain in $\mathbb{C}^2$ from 2012. In fact, the main result proves a stronger positivity property, namely the $\frac12$-positivity in the sense o…
Let $M$ be the image of a smooth CR embedding of a strictly pseudoconvex CR real hypersurface into a sphere. If the CR second fundamental form of $M$ vanishes, we show that $M$ is a totally geodesic submanifold.
Given a closed complex hypersurface $Z\subset \mathbb{C}^{N+1}$ $(N\in\mathbb{N})$ and a compact subset $K\subset Z$, we prove the existence of a pseudoconvex Runge domain $D$ in $Z$ such that $K\subset D$ and there is a complete proper holomorphic embedding from $D$ into the unit ball of $\mathbb{C}^{N+1}$. For $N=1$, we derive the existence of complete properly embedded complex curves in the unit ball of $\mathbb{C}^2$, with arbitrarily prescribed finite topology. In particular, there exist complete proper holomorphic embeddings of the unit disc $\mathbb{D}\subset \mathbb{C}$ into the unit b…
In this paper it is shown that a CR embedding from one strictly pseudoconvex hypersurface into another (of strictly larger dimension) sends chains on the source to chains on the target if and only if the embedding has a lift to a conformal isometry of the associated Fefferman bundles with vanishing pseudo-Riemannian second fundamental form. When the target is a sphere these conditions simplify nicely.
In this paper, we consider real hypersurfaces $M$ in $\Bbb C^3$ (or more generally, 5-dimensional CR manifolds of hypersurface type) at uniformly Levi degenerate points, i.e. Levi degenerate points such that the rank of the Levi form is constant in a neighborhood. We also require the hypersurface to satisfy a certain second order nondegeneracy condition (called 2-nondegeneracy) at the point. Our first result is the construction of a principal bundle $P\to M$ with an absolute parallelism, uniquely determined by the CR structure on $M$, which reduces the question of whether two such CR manifolds…
The Newlander-Nirenberg theorem says that a formally integrable complex structure is locally equivalent to the standard complex structure in the complex Euclidean space. In this paper, we consider two natural generalizations of the Newlander-Nirenberg theorem under the presence of a $C^2$ strictly pseudoconvex boundary. When a given formally integrable complex structure $X$ is defined on the closure of a bounded strictly pseudoconvex domain with $C^2$ boundary $D\subset \mathbb{C}^n$, we show the existence of global holomorphic coordinate systems defined on $\overline{D}$ that transform $X$ in…
We address the problem of existence and uniqueness of a Levi-flat hypersurface $M$ in $C^n$ with prescribed compact boundary $S$ for $n\ge3$. The situation for $n\ge3$ differs sharply from the well studied case $n=2$. We first establish necessary conditions on $S$ at both complex and CR points, needed for the existence of $M$. All CR points have to be nonminimal and all complex points have to be "flat". Then, adding a positivity condition at complex points, which is similar to the ellipticity for $n=2$ and excluding the possibility of $S$ to contain complex $(n-2)$-dimensional submanifolds, we…
