arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Franc Forstneric.
We construct Fatou-Bieberbach domains in $\mathbb C^n$ for $n>1$ which contain a given compact set $K$ and at the same time avoid a totally real affine subspace $L$ of dimension $<n$, provided that $K\cup L$ is polynomially convex. By using this result, we show that the domain $\mathbb C^n\setminus\mathbb R^k$ for $1\le k<n$ enjoys the Oka property with approximation for maps from any Stein manifold of dimension $<n$.
We establish the Hodge conjecture for the top dimensional cohomology group with integer coefficients of any $q$-complete complex manifold $X$ with $q<\dim X$. This holds in particular for the complement $X=\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^n\setminus A$ of any complex projective manifold defined by $q<n$ independent equations.
In this paper we prove that every bordered Riemann surface M admits a complete proper null holomorphic embedding into a ball of the complex Euclidean $3$-space $\mathbb{C}^3$. The real part of such an embedding is a complete conformal minimal immersion $M\to \mathbb{R}^3$ with bounded image. For any such $M$ we also construct proper null holomorphic embeddings $M\to \mathbb{C}^3$ with a bounded coordinate function; these give rise to properly embedded null curves $M\to SL_2(\mathbb{C})$ and to properly immersed Bryant surfaces $M\to \mathbb{H}^3$ in the hyperbolic $3$-space. In particular, we give the first examples of proper Bryant surfaces with finite topology and of hyperbolic conformal type. The main novelty when compared to the existing results in the literature is that we work with a fixed conformal structure on $M$. This is accomplished by introducing a conceptually new method based on complex analytic techniques. One of our main tools is an approximate solution to the Riemann-Hilbert boundary value problem for null curves in $\mathbb{C}^3$.
We prove that a Stein manifold of dimension $d$ admits a proper holomorphic embedding into any Stein manifold of dimension at least $2d+1$ satisfying the holomorphic density property. This generalizes classical theorems of Remmert, Bishop and Narasimhan pertaining to embeddings into complex Euclidean spaces, as well as several other recent results.
In this paper we survey some recent contributions by the authors to the theory of null holomorphic curves in the complex Euclidean space $\mathbb C^3$, as well as their applications to null holomorphic curves in the special linear group $SL_2(\mathbb C)$, minimal surfaces in the Euclidean space $\mathbb R^3$, and constant mean curvature one surfaces (Bryant surfaces) in the hyperbolic 3-space $\mathbb H^3$. The paper is an expanded version of the lecture given by the second named author at the Abel Symposium in Trondheim, Norway, in July 2013.
Oka theory has its roots in the classical Oka-Grauert principle whose main result is Grauert's classification of principal holomorphic fiber bundles over Stein spaces. Modern Oka theory concerns holomorphic maps from Stein manifolds and Stein spaces to Oka manifolds. It has emerged as a subfield of complex geometry in its own right since the appearance of a seminal paper of M. Gromov in 1989. In this expository paper we discuss Oka manifolds and Oka maps. We describe equivalent characterizations of Oka manifolds, the functorial properties of this class, and geometric sufficient conditions for being Oka, the most important of which is Gromov's ellipticity. We survey the current status of the theory in terms of known examples of Oka manifolds, mention open problems and outline the proofs of the main results. In the appendix by F. Larusson it is explained how Oka manifolds and Oka maps, along with Stein manifolds, fit into an abstract homotopy-theoretic framework. The article is an expanded version of the lectures given by the author at the Winter School KAWA-4 in Toulouse, France, in January 2013. A more comprehensive exposition of Oka theory is available in the monograph F. Forstneric, Stein Manifolds and Holomorphic Mappings (The Homotopy Principle in Complex Analysis), Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete, 3. Folge, 56, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg (2011).
In this paper we extend the Poletsky-Rosay theorem, concerning plurisubharmonicity of the Poisson envelope of an upper semicontinuous function, to locally irreducible complex spaces.
In this paper we study holomorphic immersions of open Riemann surfaces into C^n whose derivative lies in a conical algebraic subvariety A of C^n that is smooth away from the origin. Classical examples of such A-immersions include null curves in C^3 which are closely related to minimal surfaces in R^3, and null curves in SL_2(C) that are related to Bryant surfaces. We establish a basic structure theorem for the set of all A-immersions of a bordered Riemann surface, and we prove several approximation and desingularization theorems. Assuming that A is irreducible and is not contained in any hyperplane, we show that every A-immersion can be approximated by A-embeddings; this holds in particular for null curves in C^3. If in addition A-{0} is an Oka manifold, then A-immersions are shown to satisfy the Oka principle, including the Runge and the Mergelyan approximation theorems. Another version of the Oka principle holds when A admits a smooth Oka hyperplane section. This lets us prove in particular that every open Riemann surface is biholomorphic to a properly embedded null curve in C^3.
We prove that every bordered Riemann surface admits a complete proper holomorphic immersion into a ball of C^2, and a complete proper holomorphic embedding into a ball of C^3.
We introduce the notion of a stratified Oka manifold and prove that such a manifold $X$ is strongly dominable in the sense that for every $x\in X$, there is a holomorphic map $f:\C^n\to X$, $n=\dim X$, such that $f(0)=x$ and $f$ is a local biholomorphism at 0. We deduce that every Kummer surface is strongly dominable. We determine which minimal compact complex surfaces of class VII are Oka, assuming the global spherical shell conjecture. We deduce that the Oka property and several weaker holomorphic flexibility properties are in general not closed in families of compact complex manifolds. Finally, we consider the behaviour of the Oka property under blowing up and blowing down.
We prove that every circled domain in the Riemann sphere admits a proper holomorphic embedding to C^2. Our methods also apply to circled domains with punctures, provided that all but finitely many of the punctures belong to the closure of the set of complementary discs.
The notion of the projective hull of a compact set in a complex projective space was introduced by Harvey and Lawson in 2006. In this paper we describe the projective hull by Poletsky sequences of analytic discs, in analogy to the known descriptions of the holomorphic and the plurisubharmonic hull.
Given a compact Riemann surface X and a point x_0 in X, we construct a holomorphic function without critical points on the punctured Riemann surface R = X - x_0 which is of finite order at the point x_0. This complements the result of Gunning and Narasimhan from 1967 who constructed a noncritical holomorphic function on every open Riemann surface, but without imposing any growth condition. On the other hand, if the genus of X is at least one, then we show that every algebraic function on R admits a critical point. Our proof also shows that every cohomology class in H^1(X;C) is represented as a de Rham class by a nowhere vanishing holomorphic one-form of finite order on the punctured surface X-x_0.
We establish plurisubharmonicity of envelopes of certain classical disc functionals on locally irreducible complex spaces, thereby generalizing the corresponding results for complex manifolds. We also find new formulae expressing the Siciak-Zaharyuta extremal function of an open set in a locally irreducible affine algebraic variety as the envelope of certain disc functionals, similarly to what has been done for open sets in C^n by Lempert and by Larusson and Sigurdsson.
We construct a holomorphically varying family of complex surfaces X_s, parametrized by the points s in any Stein manifold, such that every X_s is a long C^2 which is biholomorphic to C^2 for some but not all values of s.
Oka theory has its roots in the classical Oka principle in complex analysis. It has emerged as a subfield of complex geometry in its own right since the appearance of a seminal paper of M. Gromov in 1989. Following a brief review of Stein manifolds, we discuss the recently introduced category of Oka manifolds and Oka maps. We consider geometric sufficient conditions for being Oka, the most important of which is ellipticity, introduced by Gromov. We explain how Oka manifolds and maps naturally fit into an abstract homotopy-theoretic framework. We describe recent applications and some key open problems. This article is a much expanded version of the lecture given by the first-named author at the conference RAFROT 2010 in Rincon, Puerto Rico, on March 22, 2010, and of a brief survey article by the second-named author in Notices Amer. Math. Soc., January 2010.
In this paper (a sequel to B. Drinovec Drnovsek and F. Forstneric, Holomorphic curves in complex spaces, Duke Math. J. 139 (2007), 203-253) we obtain existence and approximation results for closed complex subvarieties that are normalized by strongly pseudoconvex Stein domains. Our sufficient condition for the existence of such subvarieties in a complex manifold is expressed in terms of the Morse indices and the number of positive Levi eigenvalues of an exhaustion function on the manifold. Examples show that our condition cannot be weakened in general. Optimal results are obtained for subvarieties of this type in complements of compact complex submanifolds with Griffiths positive normal bundle; in the projective case these results generalize classical theorems of Remmert, Bishop and Narasimhan concerning proper holomorphic maps and embeddings to complex Euclidean spaces.
Given a holomorphic submersion of reduced complex spaces, we prove that the basic Oka property of the submersion implies the parametric Oka property. This generalizes the corresponding result for complex manifolds (F. Forstneric, Oka Manifolds, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I, 347 (2009) 1017-1020). It follows that a stratified elliptic (or subelliptic) holomorphic submersion, or a stratified holomorphic fiber bundle whose fibers are Oka manifolds, enjoys the parametric Oka property. As an application we give a parametric version of the factorization theorem due to Ivarsson and Kutzschebauch (A solution of Gromov's Vaserstein problem, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 346 (2008) 1239-1243) for holomorphic maps from finite dimensional reduced Stein spaces to the special linear group SL_n(C).