Complex algebraic foliations (Q2287831)

This book provides a more or less self-contained introduction to the theory of holomorphic foliations, in particular complex algebraic foliations. The first chapter introduces the basic notions related to foliations with or without singularities. The authors discuss elementary results related to the extension of holomorphic foliations and also explain ways of constructing foliations, in particular by suspension of a group of biholomorphisms. In the second chapter, the authors pass to holomorphic foliations on complex projective spaces. In particular they explain the characterization of foliations on \(\mathbb{CP}^n\) of fixed degree. Special attention is given to holomorphic foliations of codimension one on \(\mathbb{CP}^n\), proving that they are obtained by foliations defined by polynomial vector fields on \(\mathbb{C}^n\). In the third chapter, the authors discuss the existence or nonexistence of algebraic leaves of holomorphic foliations. The index theorem of Camacho-Sad and the Baum-Bott theorem for \(\mathbb{CP}^2\) are proved. Chapter four discusses holomorphic foliations with algebraic limit sets. The central result in this chapter states that under certain conditions, a foliation on \(\mathbb{CP}^2\) with algebraic limit set is given by the inverse image of a foliation of degree one on \(\mathbb{CP}^2\) under a rational map. Chapter five is devoted to prove the rigidity theorem of Ilyashenko, which assures topological rigidity for a large class of holomorphic foliations on \(\mathbb{CP}^2\). Chapter six deals with transverse structures of foliations, in particular with affine or projective transverse structures. Several classification results for foliations admitting such structures are presented. In the appendix, some basic results of the theory of holomorphic functions of several variables are recalled and applied to the extension of foliations. The book provides a good and well-motivated introduction to the topic of holomorphic foliations. Every chapter contains several exercises. Unfortunately, the book was not proofread by an English speaker.