Construction of analytic discs and regularity of functions holomorphic at the boundary (Q1188019)

The author studies regularity of holomorphic mappings \(f\) which take a totally real subvariety of maximal dimension into another. Let \(M,N\) be such subvarieties in \(\mathbb{C}^ m\), \(\mathbb{C}^ n\) of class \({\mathcal C}^ p\), \({\mathcal C}^ q\) with \(p,q \geq 2\); let \(W\) be a wedge constructed on \(M\) and suppose \(f\) is continuous on \(\overline W\), holomorphic on \(W\), and \(f(M) \subset N\). Then \(f |_ M\) is of class \({\mathcal C}^{r-}\), where \(r=\min(p,q)\). This result has been announced earlier by the author [C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. I 304, No. 14, 427-430 (1987; Zbl 0617.32008); see also Can. J. Math. 40, No. 3, 532-545 (1988; Zbl 0687.32009)]. The techniques in the latter paper may be used to prove the result in case \(M\) is at least of class \({\mathcal C}^ 3\). If \(M\) is only \({\mathcal C}^ 2\), the present result is obtained by first constructing analytic disks which are \({\mathcal C}^ 1\) up to the boundary, lying in \(W\), with an arc of each boundary in \(M\). This is achieved by solving Bishop's equation \(u=T(h \circ u)+k\), where \(T\) is the conjugation operator on \(L^ 2 (\mathbb{T})\), \(\mathbb{T}=\) unit circle, and \(u\), \(k:\mathbb{T} \times \Omega \to \mathbb{R}^ N\), \(\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^ M\). The author needs optimal regularity of the solution and he solves this as a functional equation in a Sobolev space \(L_ k^{p,N}\) \((\mathbb{R}^ N\)- valued functions having derivatives of order \(k\) or less) for \(p\) sufficiently large by studying a sequence of successive approximations; the mapping \(u \to T(h \circ u)+k\) is not a contraction map on \(L_ k^{p,N}\). Then the geometry of the family of analytic disks is analyzed; it is shown that \(f |_ M\) is \({\mathcal C}^ 1\) if and only if for each wedge \(W' \Subset W\), there is a constant \(C\) with \(d(f(z),N) \leq Cd(z,M)\) for \(z \in W'\). An application of these results is a generalization of a result of \textit{A. Sadullaev} [Mat. Sb., n. Ser. 101(143), No. 4, 568-583, 639 (1976; Zbl 0346.32024)] on the behavior of plurisubharmonic (psh) functions on generic subvarieties of \(\mathbb{C}^ n\). Let \(P\) be a pluripolar set in \(\mathbb{C}^ n\); i.e., there exists \(u\) psh defined in a neighborhood of \(P\) (which can be taken to be all of \(\mathbb{C}^ n)\) such that \(P \subset \{u=- \infty\}\). Let \(M\) be a ``generic'' subvariety of class \({\mathcal C}^ 2\) in a (regular) domain \(D\) (in Sadullaev's paper, a ``generating submanifold'' of dimension \(\geq n\) is a submanifold such that for any \(p \in M\), the tangent space \(T_ pM\) is not contained in an \((n-1)\)- complex dimensional space). Then \(P \cap M\) has measure 0 in \(M\). Sadullaev had previously proved this result if \(M\) was of class \({\mathcal C}^ 3\). f corollary is a type of uniqueness theorem for psh functions: If \(u\) is psh and bounded above in \(D\) and \(u^*(p) \equiv \sup_{\alpha>1} \limsup_{z \to p,z \in A_ \alpha(p)} u(z)=-\infty\) on a set \(K\) of positive measure in a generic variety of class \({\mathcal C}^ 2\) in the boundary of \(D\), then \(u \equiv-\infty\). Here \(A_ \alpha(p) \equiv \{z \in D:| z-p |<\alpha \delta_ p(z)\}\), \(\delta_ p(z)\)=distance from \(z\) to \(T_ p(\partial D)\).