Existence of holomorphic functions on almost complex manifolds (Q1067227)

This paper is concerned with the problem of local existence of functions satisfying the equation \(\partial f=0\) on an almost complex manifold (these functions are called holomorphic on (M,J)). The most well-known result in this direction is the celebrated Newlander-Nirenberg theorem which states that each point of M has a neighbourhood in which there exist \((1/2)\dim M\) independent holomorphic functions if and only if the Nijenhuis tensor of J vanishes. On the other hand \textit{R. Hermann} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 83, 471-481 (1956; Zbl 0073.184)] and \textit{E. Calabi} [ibid. 87, 407-438 (1958; Zbl 0080.376)] have constructed examples of almost complex manifolds which even locally have no holomorphic functions except constants. The purpose of the present paper is to give a general criterion for the local existence of k (0\(\leq k\leq \dim M)\) independent holomorphic functions on an \(a.c.m.,\) which will englobe all these results. In the last four sections of the paper we investigate various classes of almost complex manifolds which have been previously studied from a differential-geometric point of view.