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Peter Ebenfelt

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Ebenfelt.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

A new strong rigidity phenomenon for the Bergman metric

We establish a new local-to-global rigidity phenomenon for the Bergman metric. Namely, under natural geometric hypotheses, a local conformal identification of Bergman metrics determines the underlying complex manifold globally, up to the unavoidable ambiguity of removing Bergman-negligible subsets. More precisely, let $\Omega\subseteq\mathbb C^n$ be a bounded domain with a complete Bergman metric, and suppose that the Bergman metric of a complex manifold $M$ is locally conformal, via a holomorphic map $f$, to that of $\Omega$. We prove that the given local map $f$ extends to a biholomorphism $F\colon M\to D$ onto a subdomain $D\subseteq\Omega$ in two complementary settings. If $M$ is Stein, then $\Omega\setminus D$ is a closed pluripolar set. If $M$ is a bounded domain and $\Omega$ satisfies a natural symmetry condition expressed in terms of its automorphism orbits, then $\Omega\setminus D$ is Bergman-negligible. In particular, this applies when $\Omega$ is a bounded homogeneous domain and yields a characterization, up to Bergman-negligible sets, of bounded domains with locally symmetric Bergman metrics. The latter answers a question raised by Loi--Palmieri and Zimmer. A key ingredient in the proof is a new Calabi-type extension theorem tailored to Bergman metrics.

math.CV↗
arXiv2025

Bergman kernels over polarized K\"ahler manifolds, Bergman logarithmic flatness, and a question of Lu-Tian

Let $M$ be a complete K\"ahler manifold, and let $(L, h) \to M$ be a positive line bundle inducing a K\"ahler metric $g$ on $M$. We study two Bergman kernels in this setting: the Bergman kernel of the disk bundle of the dual line bundle $(L^*, h^*)$, and the Bergman kernel of the line bundle $(L^k, h^k)$, $k\geq 1$, twisted by the canonical line bundle of $(M, g)$. We first prove a localization result for the former Bergman kernel. Then we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for this Bergman kernel to have no logarithmic singularity, expressed in terms of the Tian-Yau-Zelditch-Catlin type expansion of the latter Bergman kernel. This result, in particular, answers a question posed by Lu and Tian. As an application, we show that if $(M, g)$ is compact and locally homogeneous, then the circle bundle of $(L^*, h^*)$ is necessarily Bergman logarithmically flat.

math.CV↗
arXiv2025

Domains with Bergman metrics of constant curvature and Bergman-negligible subsets

Let $D$ be a bounded domain in $\mathbb{C}^n$. Suppose the holomorphic sectional curvature of its Bergman metric equals a negative constant $\tau$. We show that $D$ is biholomorphic to a domain $\Omega$ equal to the unit ball in $\mathbb{C}^n$ less a relatively closed set of measure zero, and that all $L^2$-holomorphic functions on $\Omega$ extend to $L^2$-holomorphic functions on the ball. Consequently, $\tau$ must equal the holomorphic sectional curvature of the unit ball. This generalizes a classical theorem of Lu. Some applications of the theorem, especially in extending classical work of Wong and Rosay, are also presented.

math.CV↗
arXiv2024

Local algebraicity and localization of the Bergman kernel on Stein spaces with finite type boundaries

On a two dimensional Stein space with isolated, normal singularities, smooth finite type boundary, and locally algebraic Bergman kernel, we establish an estimate on the type of the boundary in terms of the local algebraic degree of the Bergman kernel. As an application, we characterize two dimensional ball quotients as the only Stein spaces with smooth finite type boundary and locally rational Bergman kernel. A key ingredient in the proof of the degree estimate is a new localization result for the Bergman kernel of a pseudoconvex, finite type domain in a complex manifold.

math.CV↗
arXiv2023

Deformations and embeddings of three-dimensional strictly pseudoconvex CR manifolds

Abstract deformations of the CR structure of a compact strictly pseudoconvex hypersurface $M$ in $\mathbb{C}^2$ are encoded by complex functions on $M$. In sharp contrast with the higher dimensional case, the natural integrability condition for $3$-dimensional CR structures is vacuous, and generic deformations of a compact strictly pseudoconvex hypersurface $M\subseteq \mathbb{C}^2$ are not embeddable even in $\mathbb{C}^N$ for any $N$. A fundamental (and difficult) problem is to characterize when a complex function on $M \subseteq \mathbb{C}^2$ gives rise to an actual deformation of $M$ inside $\mathbb{C}^2$. In this paper we study the embeddability of families of deformations of a given embedded CR $3$-manifold, and the structure of the space of embeddable CR structures on $S^3$. We show that the space of embeddable deformations of the standard CR $3$-sphere is a Frechet submanifold of $C^{\infty}(S^3,\mathbb{C})$ near the origin. We establish a modified version of the Cheng-Lee slice theorem in which we are able to characterize precisely the embeddable deformations in the slice (in terms of spherical harmonics). We also introduce a canonical family of embeddable deformations and corresponding embeddings starting with any infinitesimally embeddable deformation of the unit sphere in $\mathbb{C}^2$.

math.CV↗
arXiv2023

Kähler-Einstein metrics and obstruction flatness II: unit sphere bundles

This paper concerns obstruction flatness of hypersurfaces $Σ$ that arise as unit sphere bundles $S(E)$ of Griffiths negative Hermitian vector bundles $(E, h)$ over Kähler manifolds $(M, g).$ We prove that if the curvature of $(E, h)$ satisfies a splitting condition and $(M,g)$ has constant Ricci eigenvalues, then $S(E)$ is obstruction flat. If, in addition, all these eigenvalues are strictly less than one and $(M,g)$ is complete, then we show that the corresponding ball bundle admits a complete Kähler-Einstein metric.

math.CV↗
arXiv2022

On the analytic and geometric aspects of obstruction flatness

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 result in this paper concerns the existence of obstruction flat points on compact, strongly pseudoconvex, 3-dimensional CR hypersurfaces. Theorem 5.1 asserts that the unit sphere in a negative line bundle over a Riemann surface $X$ always has at least one circle of obstruction flat points.

math.CV↗
arXiv2022

Kähler-Einstein metrics and obstruction flatness of circle bundles

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 obstruction flat. If, in addition, all these eigenvalues are strictly less than one and $(M,g)$ is complete, then we show that the corresponding disk bundle admits a complete Kähler-Einstein metric. Finally, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for obstruction flatness of $S(L)$ when $(M, g)$ is a Kähler surface $(\dim M=2$) with constant scalar curvature.

math.CV↗
arXiv2021

Algebraic Bergman kernels and finite type domains in $\mathbb{C}^2$

Let $G \subset \mathbb{C}^2$ be a smoothly bounded pseudoconvex domain and assume that the Bergman kernel of $G$ is algebraic of degree $d$. We show that the boundary $\partial G $ is of finite type and the type $r$ satisfies $r\leq 2d$. The inequality is optimal as equality holds for the egg domains $\{|z|^2+|w|^{2s}<1\},$ $s \in \mathbb{Z}_+$, by D'Angelo's explicit formula for their Bergman kernels. Our results imply, in particular, that a smoothly bounded pseudoconvex domain $G \subset \mathbb{C}^2$ cannot have rational Bergman kernel unless it is strongly pseudoconvex and biholomorphic to the unit ball by a rational map. Furthermore, we show that if the Bergman kernel of $G$ is rational of the form $\frac{p}{q}$, reduced to lowest degrees, then its rational degree $\max\{\text{deg } p, \text{deg } q \}\geq 6$. Equality is achieved if and only if $G$ is biholomorphic to the unit ball by a complex affine transformation of $\mathbb{C}^2$.

math.CV↗
arXiv2021

Obstruction Flat Rigidity of the CR 3-Sphere

On a bounded strictly pseudoconvex domain in $\mathbb{C}^n$, $n >1$, the smoothness of the Cheng-Yau solution to Fefferman's complex Monge-Ampère equation up to the boundary is obstructed by a local curvature invariant of the boundary, the CR obstruction density $\mathcal{O}$. While local examples of obstruction flat CR manifolds are plentiful, the only known compact examples are the spherical CR manifolds. We consider the obstruction flatness problem for small deformations of the standard CR 3-sphere. That rigidity holds for the CR sphere was previously known (in all dimensions) for the case of embeddable CR structures, where it also holds at the infinitesimal level. In the 3-dimensional case, however, a CR structure need not be embeddable. While in the nonembeddable case we may no longer interpret the obstruction density $\mathcal{O}$ in terms of the boundary regularity of Fefferman's equation (or the logarithmic singularity of the Bergman kernel) the equation $\mathcal{O}\equiv 0$ is still of great interest, e.g., since it corresponds to the Bach flat equation of conformal gravity for the Fefferman space of the CR structure (a conformal Lorentzian 4-manifold). Unlike in the embeddable case, it turns out that in the nonembeddable case there is an infinite dimensional space of solutions to the linearized obstruction flatness equation on the standard CR 3-sphere and this space defines a natural complement to the tangent space of the embeddable deformations. In spite of this, we show that the CR 3-sphere does not admit nontrivial obstruction flat deformations, embeddable or nonembeddable.

math.CV↗
arXiv2020

On the classification of normal Stein spaces and finite ball quotients with Bergman-Einstein metrics

In this paper, we study the Bergman metric of a finite ball quotient $\mathbb{B}^n/Γ$, where $Γ\subseteq \mathrm{Aut}(\mathbb{B}^n)$ is a finite, fixed point free, abelian group. We prove that this metric is Kähler--Einstein if and only if $Γ$ is trivial, i.e., when the ball quotient $\mathbb{B}^n/Γ$ is the unit ball $\mathbb{B}^n$ itself. As a consequence, we establish a characterization of the unit ball among normal Stein spaces with isolated singularities and abelian fundamental groups in terms of the existence of a Bergman-Einstein metric.

math.CV↗
arXiv2020

Algebraicity of the Bergman Kernel

Our main result introduces a new way to characterize two-dimensional finite ball quotients by algebraicity of their Bergman kernels. This characterization is particular to dimension two and fails in higher dimensions, as is illustrated by a counterexample in dimension three constructed in this paper. As a corollary of our main theorem, we prove, e.g., that a smoothly bounded strictly pseudoconvex domain G in $\mathbb{C}^2$ has rational Bergman kernel if and only if there is a rational biholomorphism from G to the 2-dimensional unit ball.

math.CV↗
arXiv2019

The equivalence theory for infinite type hypersurfaces in $\mathbb C^2$

We develop a classification theory for real-analytic hypersurfaces in $\mathbb C^2$ in the case when the hypersurface is of {\em infinite type} at the reference point. This is the remaining, not yet understood case in $\mathbb C^2$ in the {\it Problème local}, formulated by H.\,Poincaré in 1907 and asking for a complete biholomorphic classification of real hypersurfaces in complex space. One novel aspect of our results, appearing in this revised version, is a notion of {\em smooth normal forms} for real-analytic hypersurfaces. We rely fundamentally on the recently developed CR -- DS technique in CR-geometry.

math.CV↗
arXiv2018

Bounded strictly pseudoconvex domains in $\mathbb{C}^2$ with obstruction flat boundary II

On a bounded strictly pseudoconvex domain in $\mathbb{C}^n$, $n>1$, the smoothness of the Cheng-Yau solution to Fefferman's complex Monge-Ampere equation up to the boundary is obstructed by a local CR invariant of the boundary. For a bounded strictly pseudoconvex domain $Ω\subset \mathbb{C}^2$ diffeomorphic to the ball, we prove that the global vanishing of this obstruction implies biholomorphic equivalence to the unit ball, subject to the existence of a holomorphic vector field satisfying a mild approximate tangency condition along the boundary. In particular, by considering the Euler vector field multiplied by $i$ the result applies to all domains in a large $C^1$ open neighborhood of the unit ball in $\mathbb{C}^2$. The proof rests on establishing an integral identity involving the CR curvature of $\partial Ω$ for any holomorphic vector field defined in a neighborhood of the boundary. The notion of ambient holomorphic vector field along the CR boundary generalizes naturally to the abstract setting, and the corresponding integral identity still holds in the case of abstract CR $3$-manifolds.

math.CV↗
arXiv2018

Bounded strictly pseudoconvex domains in $\mathbb{C}^2$ with obstruction flat boundary

On a bounded strictly pseudoconvex domain in $\mathbb{C}^n$, $n>1$, the smoothness of the Cheng-Yau solution to Fefferman's complex Monge-Ampere equation up to the boundary is obstructed by a local curvature invariant of the boundary. For bounded strictly pseudoconvex domains in $\mathbb{C}^2$ which are diffeomorphic to the ball, we motivate and consider the problem of determining whether the global vanishing of this obstruction implies biholomorphic equivalence to the unit ball. In particular we observe that, up to biholomorphism, the unit ball in $\mathbb{C}^2$ is rigid with respect to deformations in the class of strictly pseudoconvex domains with obstruction flat boundary. We further show that for more general deformations of the unit ball, the order of vanishing of the obstruction equals the order of vanishing of the CR curvature. Finally, we give a generalization of the recent result of the second author that for an abstract CR manifold with transverse symmetry, obstruction flatness implies local equivalence to the CR $3$-sphere.

math.CV↗
arXiv2016

A family of compact strictly pseudoconvex hypersurfaces in $\mathbb C^2$ without umbilical points

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.

math.CV↗
arXiv2016

The Log term in the Bergman and Szeg\H o kernels in strictly pseudoconvex domains in $\mathbb C^2$

In this paper, we consider bounded strictly pseudoconvex domains $D\subset \mathbb C^2$ with smooth boundary $M=M^3:=\partial D$. If we consider the asymptotic expansion of the Bergman kernel on the diagonal $$ K_B\sim \frac{ϕ_B}{ρ^{n+1}}+ψ_B\logρ, $$ where $ρ>0$ is a Fefferman defining equation for $D$, then it is well known that the trace of the log term $bψ_B:=(ψ_B)|_M$ on $M$ does not determine the CR geometry of $M$ locally; e.g., the vanishing of $bψ_B$ on an open subset of $M$ does not imply that $M$ is locally spherical there. Nevertheless, the main result in this paper is that if $D\subset \mathbb C^2$ is assumed to have transverse symmetry, then the global vanishing of $bψ_B$ on $M$ implies that $M$ is locally spherical. A similar result is proved for the Szeg\H o kernel.

math.CV↗