Local solvability in a class of overdetermined systems of linear PDE (Q1179169)

The present work extends to vector fields with \(C^ \infty\) coefficients the main result about vector fields with analytic coefficients in [\textit{F. Treves}, Acta Math. 151, 1-48 (1983; Zbl 0534.35009)]. Thus we consider \(n\) smooth complex vector fields \(L_ 1,\dots,L_ n\) in an open neighborhood of the origin \(U\) in \(\mathbb{R} \times \mathbb{R}^ n\); they are assumed to be linearly independent over the complex numbers. We shall be concerned with the local solvability of the system of differential equations \[ L_ ju=f_ j, \quad j=1, \dots,n. \tag{1} \] We reason under the hypothesis of local integrability: there is a \(C^ \infty\) solution in \(U\) of the homogeneous equations \(L_ jZ=0\), \(j=1,\dots,n\) such that \(dZ \neq 0\) at every point of \(U\). Possibly after contracting \(U\) about the origin, we can select the coordinates \(x,t_ 1,\dots,t_ n\) in such a way that \(Z=x+i\varphi (x,t)\) with \(\varphi (0,0)=0\). Furthermore, after a substitution of the vector fields \(L_ j\) by linear combinations of them with \(C^ \infty\) coefficients, we assume that \(L_ j=\partial/ \partial t_ j+\lambda_ j(x,t) \partial/ \partial x\). The system of the inhomogeneous equations (1) is said to be locally solvable in \(C^ \infty\) functions at the origin if, given any open neighborhood \(U_ 1 \subset U\) of 0 there is another open neighborhood \(U_ 2 \subset U_ 1\) of 0, such that, given any set of functions \(f_ j \in C^ \infty(U_ 1)\) \((j=1,\dots,n)\) satisfying the compatibility conditions \(L_ jf_ k=L_ kf_ j\), \(j,k=1,\dots,n\), there is a \(C^ \infty\) function \(u\) in \(U_ 2\) which satisfies the equations (1) in \(U_ 2\). The statement of the main theorem requires the concept of a fibre of the map \(Z:U \to \mathbb{C}\); it is simply the preimage under \(Z\) of a single point \(z_ 0\in Z(U)\). The property that is relevant to the local solvability (about 0) of the inhomogeneous equations (1) is the following one. (P) There are two bases of neighborhoods \({\mathcal N}_ k' \subset {\mathcal N}_ k \subset U\) \((k=1,2,\dots)\) of the origin such that for each \(k\) the fibres of \(Z\) in \({\mathcal N}_ k\) which intersect \({\mathcal N}_ k'\) are connected. The present paper presents the proof of the following fact. If property \((P)\) holds when \({\mathcal N}_ k=I_ k\times Q_ k\), for a sequence of intervals \(I_ k\) in the \(x\)-line and of cubes \(Q_ k\) in \(t\)-space \(\mathbb{R}^ n\), then the inhomogeneous equations (1) are locally solvable at the origin, in \(C^ \infty\) functions.