Universal functions on complex general linear groups (Q1125457)

Let \(S\) be a Stein manifold, and denote by \(\mathcal A(S)\) the set of all holomorphic functions on \(S\). For a compact set \(K \subset S\), the \(\mathcal A(S)\)-hull \(\widehat{K}\) of \(K\) ist defined by \[ \widehat{K} := \{ x \in S : |f(x)|\leq \sup_K{|f|} \text{ for all } f \in \mathcal A(S) \} , \] and \(\mathcal A(K)\) denotes the set of all functions which are holomorphic in a neighbourhood of \(K\). If \(M(n,\mathbb C)\) denotes the set of all square matrices of degree \(n\) with complex entries, and if \(G = GL(n,\mathbb C) = \{ Z \in M(n,\mathbb C) : \det{Z} \neq 0 \}\) is the general linear group of degree \(n\) over \(\mathbb C\), then \(M(n,\mathbb C)\) and \(G\) are Stein manifolds. Furthermore, denote by \(B(G)\) the set of all compact sets \(K \subset G\) with \(\widehat{K}=K\) such that there exists a function \(f \in \mathcal A(M(n,\mathbb C))\) with \(f(0) \notin (f(K))\sphat\). With these notations the main result reads as follows. Theorem. There exists a holomorphic function \(F\) on \(G\) such that for any \(K \in B(G)\), for any \(f \in \mathcal A(K)\), and for any \(\varepsilon>0\), there exists \(C \in G\) such that \[ \max_{Z \in K}{|F(CZ)-f(Z)|}<\varepsilon . \] This generalizes a theorem of the second author [Boll. Unione Mat. Ital., VII. Ser., A 2, No. 3, 345-352 (1988; Zbl 0658.30025)] which concerns the special case \(n=1\), that is \(G=\mathbb C \setminus \{0\}\). The authors also consider a well-known theorem of \textit{G. D.~Birkhoff} [C. R. Paris 189, 473-475 (1929; JFM 55.0192.07)] and a theorem of \textit{W.~Luh} [Colloq. Math. Soc. János Bolyai 19, 503-511 (1978; Zbl 0411.30017)] which both concern the existence of universal entire functions of one complex variable, and they extend them to several complex variables.