Sums of CR functions from competing CR structures (Q1683512)

The paper is motivated by the study of the Dirichlet problem for pluriharmonic functions in several complex variables. Given a domain with smooth boundary, and given a function on the boundary, the problem asks for a pluriharmonic function on the domain with the given boundary data. The problem is not solvable in general. To have a solution the boundary data must be the sum of a CR function and a conjugate CR function. That is, the boundary data must be a sum of two CR functions from two different (competing) CR structures. The authors consider the problem of such sums in two scenarios. First they consider the case of conjugate CR structures on a strongly pseudoconvex circular hypersurface in two dimensions. They prove that there exist two vector fields \(X\) and \(Y\), one is CR, one conjugate CR, such that \(u\) is a pluriharmonic boundary value if and only if \(XXYu = 0\) (given that the boundary is compact). In more generality the local result holds if \(XXYu = 0\) and \(\overline{XXY}u = 0\). In the second scenario, the authors consider CR and dual-CR structures on convex circular domains, and obtain an analogous result.