Regularity equivalence of the Szeg\"o projection and the complex Green operator

Abstract

In this paper we prove that on a CR manifold of hypersurface type that satisfies the weak $Y(q)$ condition, the complex Green operator $G_q$ is exactly (globally) regular if and only if the Szeg\"o projections $S_{q-1}, S_q$ and a third orthogonal projection $S'_{q+1}$ are exactly (globally) regular. The projection $S'_{q+1}$ is closely related to the Szeg\"o projection $S_{q+1}$ and actually coincides with it if the space of harmonic $(0,q+1)$-forms is trivial. This result extends the important and by now classical result by H. Boas and E. Straube on the equivalence of the regularity of the $\bar\partial$-Neumann operator and the Bergman projections on a smoothly bounded pseudoconvex domain. We also prove an extension of this result to the case of bounded smooth domains satisfying the weak $Z(q)$ condition on a Stein manifold.