12 pages. To appear in the Journal of Geometric Analysis. This work is the sequel to another paper by the same author, (see http://www.arxiv.org/abs/math.CV/0001039) "Polynomial hulls and H-infinity control for a hypoconvex constraint."
Let T be the unit circle in the complex plane C. This paper proves the existence of analytic structure in a compact subset K of T X C^n, where K has so-called "lineally convex" or "hypoconvex" fibers over T. It also addresses a related H-infinity optimization problem. The theorems here remove a number of unnatural assumptions required in an earlier work by the same author, "Polynomial hulls and H-infinity control for a hypoconvex constraint." (See http://www.arxiv.org/abs/math.CV/0001039)
We use our disc formula for the Siciak-Zahariuta extremal function to characterize the polynomial hull of a connected compact subset of complex affine space in terms of analytic discs.
Given a 2-sheeted torus over the circle with winding number 1, we prove that its polynomial hull is a union of 2-sheeted holomorphic discs. Moreover when the hull is non degenerate its boundary is a Levi-flat solid torus foliated by such discs.
It is shown that no purely topological condition implies the equality of the polynomial and rational hulls of a set: For any compact subset $K$ of a Euclidean space, there exists a set $X$, in some ${\mathbb C}^N$, that is homeomorphic to $K$ and is rationally convex but not polynomially convex. In addition, it is shown that for the surfaces in ${\mathbb C}^3$ constructed by Izzo and Stout, whose polynomial hulls are nontrivial but contain no analytic discs, the polynomial and rational hulls coincide, thereby answering a question of Gupta. Equality of polynomial and rational hulls is shown als…
We prove that if a compact set E in complex Euclidean space is contained in an arc J, then there is a choice of J whose polynomial hull is the union of J and the polynomial hull of E. This strengthens an earlier result of the author. We also correct an inaccuracy in the statement, and fill a gap in the proof, of that earlier result.
We embed compact $C^\infty$ manifolds into $\mathbb C^n$ as totally real manifolds with prescribed polynomial hulls. As a consequence we show that any compact $C^\infty$ manifold of dimension $d$ admits a totally real embedding into $\mathbb C^{\lfloor \frac{3d}{2}\rfloor}$ with non-trivial polynomial hull without complex structure.
A generalization of a result of Wermer concerning the existence of polynomial hulls without analytic discs is presented. As a consequence it is shown that there exists a Cantor set $X$ in ${\mathbb C}^3$ whose polynomial hull is strictly larger than $X$ but contains no analytic discs.
We prove two disc formulas for the Siciak-Zahariuta extremal function of an arbitrary open subset of complex affine space. We use these formulas to characterize the polynomial hull of an arbitrary compact subset of complex affine space in terms of analytic discs. Similar results in previous work of ours required the subsets to be connected.
It is shown that there exist arcs and simple closed curves in ${\mathbb C}^3$ with nontrivial polynomial hulls that contain no analytic discs. It is also shown that in any bounded Runge domain of holomorphy in ${\mathbb C}^N$ ($N \geq 2$) there exist polynomially convex arcs and simple closed curves of almost full measure. These results, which strengthen earlier results of the author, are obtained as consequences of a general result about polynomial hulls of arcs and simple closed curves through Cantor sets.
Let T be a positive plurisubharmonic current of bidimension (p,p) and let $δ>0$. Assume that the Lelong number of T satisfies $ν(T,a)\geq δ$ on a dense subset of supp(T) (rectifiable currents satisfy this condition). Then $T=ϕ[X]$, where X is a complex subvariety of pure dimension p and $ϕ$ is a weakly plurisubharmonic function on X. We have an analogous result for plurisuperharmonic currents. We also introduce and study a notion of polynomial p-hull.
It is known from the Runge approximation theorem that every function which is holomorphic in a neighborhood of a compact polynomially convex set $K\subset \complexes^{n}$ can be approximated uniformly on $K$ by analytic polynomials. We shall here prove the same result when the role of the polynomially convex hull $\hat {K}$ is played by the generalized polynomial hull $h_{q}(K)$ introduced by Basener and which can be defined, for each integer $q\in {0,...,n-1}$, by $h_{q}(K)=\displaystyle\bigcup_{P\in \complexes [z_{1},...,z_{n}]} A_{P}$ where $A_{P}=\{z\in \complexes^{n}: |P(z)|\leq δ_{K}(P,z…
It is an old question how massive polynomial hulls of Cantor sets in $\mathbb{C}^n$ can be. In contrast to expectation e.g. Rudin, Vitushkin and Henkin showed on examples that it can be rather massive. Motivated by problems of holomorphic convexity of subsets of strictly pseudoconvex boundaries and removable singularities the question was asked for Cantor sets in the unit sphere. It was known that tame Cantor sets in the unit sphere are polynomially convex. We give an example of a wild Cantor set in the sphere whose polynomial hull contains a large ball. In some sense this can be opposed to a …
We prove P. Alexandersson's conjecture that for every complex polynomial $p$ of degree $d \geq 2$ the convex hull $H_p$ of the Julia set $J_p$ of $p$ satisfies $p^{-1}(H_p) \subset H_p$. We further prove that the equality $p^{-1}(H_p) = H_p$ is achieved only if $p$ is affinely conjugated to the Chebyshev polynomial $T_d$ of degree $d$, to $-T_d$ or a monomial $c z^d$ with $|c|=1$.
Extensions of the notions of polynomially and rationally convex hulls are introduced. Using these notions, a generalization of a result of Duval and Levenberg on polynomially convex hulls containing no analytic discs is presented. As a consequence it is shown that there exists a Cantor set $X$ in ${\mathbb C}^3$ with a nontrivial polynomially convex hull that contains no analytic discs. Using this Cantor set, it is shown that there exist arcs and curves in ${\mathbb C}^4$ with nontrivial polynomially convex hulls that contain no analytic discs. This answers a question raised a few years ago by…
According to the classical Gauss-Lucas theorem all zeros of the derivative of a complex non-constant polynomial p lie in the convex hull of the zeros of p. It is proved that for a polynomial p of degree four with four different zeros forming a concave quadrilateral, the zeros of the derivative lie in two of the three triangles formed by the zeros of p. Thus a strengthening of the classical Gauss-Lucas theorem is established for this case, which can be extended to the case of a polynomial of degree n for which the zeros do not form a convex n-polygon.
We say that a subset of C^n is hypoconvex if its complement is the union of complex hyperplanes. Let D be the closed unit disk in C, T the unit circle. We prove two conjectures of Helton and Marshall. (See ``Frequency domain design and analytic selections,'' Indiana Univ. Math. J. 39, no. 1 (1990), 157-184.) Let p:T X C^n --> R+ be a smooth function whose sublevel sets have compact hypoconvex fibers over T. Then, with some restrictions on p, if Y is the set where p is less than or equal to 1, the polynomial convex hull of Y is the union of graphs of analytic vector-valued functions with bounda…
It is shown that if $A$ is a unital commutative Banach algebra with a dense set of invertible elements, then the maximal ideal space of $A$ contains no compact, locally connected, simply coconnected subspace of topological dimension $\geq 2$. As a consequence, the existence of a compact set in ${\mathbb C}^2$ with a nontrivial polynomial hull that contains no topological discs is obtained. This strengthens the celebrated result of Stolzenberg from 1963 that there exists a nontrivial polynomial hull that contains no analytic discs, and it answers a question stated in the literature 10 years ago…
Let $V$ be a complex linear space, $G\subset\GL(V)$ be a compact group. We consider the problem of description of polynomial hulls $\wh{Gv}$ for orbits $Gv$, $v\in V$, assuming that the identity component of $G$ is a torus $T$. The paper contains a universal construction for orbits which satisfy the inclusion $Gv\subset T^\bbC v$ and a characterization of pairs $(G,V)$ such that it is true for a generic $v\in V$. The hull of a finite union of $T$-orbits in $T^\bbC v$ can be distinguished in $\clos T^\bbC v$ by a finite collection of inequalities of the type $\abs{z_1}^{s_1}...\abs{z_n}^{s_n}\l…
Let S be a smooth real surface in C^2 and let p\in S be a point at which the tangent plane is a complex line. How does one determine whether or not S is locally polynomially convex at such a p --- i.e. at a CR singularity ? Even when the order of contact of T_p(S) with S at p equals 2, no clean characterisation exists; difficulties are posed by parabolic points. Hence, we study non-parabolic CR singularities. We show that the presence or absence of Bishop discs around certain non-parabolic CR singularities is completely determined by a Maslov-type index. This result subsumes all known facts ab…
A joint generalization of real smooth as well of complex manifolds are the Cauchy-Riemann manifolds. The main objective of the paper is to inroduce a class of symmetric CR manifolds containing both classes of Riemannian and Hermitian symmetric spaces. It turns out that the classical requirement of isolated fixed points for the symmetries is no longer adequate, because it would imply the Levi-flatness. Among all symmetric CR-manifolds we distinguish a large subclass consisting of all Shilov boundaries of bounded symmetric domains. For this class we calculate the polynomial and the rational conv…
The projective hull X^ of a subset X in complex projective space P^n is an analogue of the classical polynomial hull of a set in C^n. If X is contained in an affine chart C^n on P^n, then the affine part of X^ is the set of points x in C^n for which there exists a constant M=M_x so that |p(x)| < M^d sup{|p(y)| : y in X} for all polynomials p of degree less than or equal to d, and any d > 0. Let X^(M) be the set of points x where M_x can be chosen < M. Using an argument of E. Bishop, we show the following. Let G be a compact real analytic curve (not necessarily connected) in C^2. Then for any l…
We consider complex projective space P^{n} and a smooth closed curve gamma in P^{n}. Harvey and Lawson have defined the notion of the projective hull \hat{K} of a compact subset K in P^n. This concept is an analogue of the polynomial hull of compact subsets of C^{n}. In the present note we study the relation between the following two properties of the curve gamma: (1) \hat{gamma} - gamma is a one-dimensional complex analytic subvariety of P^{n} - gamma, and (2) There exists a Stein subdomain of P^{n} which contains the projective hull \hat{gamma} of gamma.
Let $Λ$ be a finite set of nonnegative integers, and let $\mathcal P(Λ)$ be the linear hull of the monomials $z^k$ with $k\inΛ$, viewed as a subspace of $L^1$ on the unit circle. We characterize the extreme and exposed points of the unit ball in $\mathcal P(Λ)$.
Let X be a complex manifold and c a simple closed curve in X. We address the question: What conditions on c ensure the existence of a 1-dimensional complex subvariety V with boundary c in X. When X = C^n, an answer to this question involves the polynomial hull of gamma. When X = P^n, complex projective space, the projective hull hat{c} of c comes into play. One always has V contained in hat{c}, and for analytic curves they conjecturally coincide. In this paper we establish an approximate analogue of this idea which holds without the analyticity of c. We characterize points in hat{c} as those w…
We provide some conditions for the graph of a Hoelder-continuous function on \bar{D}, where \bar{D} is a closed disc in the complex plane, to be polynomially convex. Almost all sufficient conditions known to date --- provided the function (say F) is smooth --- arise from versions of the Weierstrass Approximation Theorem on \bar{D}. These conditions often fail to yield any conclusion if rank_R(DF) is not maximal on a sufficiently large subset of \bar{D}. We bypass this difficulty by introducing a technique that relies on the interplay of certain plurisubharmonic functions. This technique also a…
