Real analytic manifolds in \(\mathbb C^n\) with parabolic complex tangents along a submanifold of codimension one (Q1020633)

Let \(M \subset \mathbb C^n\) be a real analytic submanifold of real dimension \(n\) and with one point, say \(x_o = 0\), where the tangent space \(T_{x_o} M\) is complex. If \(M\) satisfies suitable non-degeneracy conditions, there exists a canonically associated holomorphic invariant \(\gamma \in [0, \infty]\), introduced by \textit{E. Bishop} in [Duke Math. J. 32, 1--21 (1965; Zbl 0154.08501)]. In [Acta Math. 150, 255--296 (1983; Zbl 0519.32015)], \textit{J. K. Moser} and \textit{S. M. Webster} proved that, for any finite value of \(\gamma\) not belonging to a special countable subset \(E \subset (\frac{1}{2}, \infty[\), there exists a so-called manifold in normal form, to which \(M\) is always formally equivalent. Moreover, when \(0 < \gamma < \frac{1}{2}\), the manifold \(M\) is also biholomorphically equivalent to its normal form, while when \(\gamma > \frac{1}{2}\) there are examples that are not biholomorphically equivalent to it. In this paper, the authors consider the class of germs \(\mathcal M\) of real analytic manifolds \(M \subset \mathbb C^n\), for which \(\gamma = \frac{1}{2}\) and with the property that the set of points for which \(T_y M\) is complex constitutes a submanifold of codimension one. Notice that any manifold in \(\mathcal M\) admits a system of coordinates, in which it is defined by equations of the form \[ z_n = (z_1 + \bar z_1)^2 p(z_1, \bar z_1, \Re(z_2), \dots, \Re(z_{n-1}))\;,\;\;\Im(z_i) = (z_1 + \bar z_1)^2 q(z_1, \bar z_1, \Re(z_2)) , \] \(2 \leq i \leq n-1\), with \(p\) and \(q\) real analytic functions such that \(p(0) = 1\) and \(q(0) = 0\). First of all, they prove that any \(M \in \mathcal M\) admits a formal power series transformation, which formally maps \(M\) into the manifold defined by \[ z_n = (z_1 + \bar z_1)^2 \;,\qquad \Im(z_i) = 0 ,\quad 2 \leq i \leq n-1. \] In other words, all manifolds in \( \mathcal M\) are formally equivalent to each other. Secondly, following the theory of so-called functional moduli, developed by \textit{S. M. Voronin} [in: Nonlinear Stokes phenomena. Transl. ed. by A. B. Sossinsky, Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society, Adv. Sov. Math. 14, 139--233 (1993; Zbl 0789.58015)], they determine a natural correspondence between a moduli space \(\mathcal H/\sim\) of quadruples of holomorphic maps on sectorial domains in \(\mathbb C^n\), determined up to a special equivalence condition \(\sim\), and the biholomorphic equivalence classes of \(\mathcal M/\sim\). At the end, they show that the space \(\mathcal H/\sim\) (and hence \(\mathcal M /\sim\) too) is infinite-dimensional, in intriguing contrast with the previous result on the existence of a unique formal equivalence class in \(\mathcal M\). Analogous results are also proved for the subclass \(\mathcal M_\omega \subset \mathcal M\), given by the manifolds \(M\) for which \(\Re \omega|_M = 0\) where \(\omega = dz_1 \wedge \dots \wedge dz_n\), and the equivalence classes in \(\mathcal M_\omega\) w.r.t. (formal or biholomorphic) unimodular transformations.