Formal complex curves in real smooth hypersurfaces (Q2340881)

To a point \(p\) of a real smooth hypersurface \(M\), an invariant is associated, namely, the D'Angelo type, which measures the maximum order of contact to \(M\) of all complex curves passing through \(p\). In the real analytic case, D'Angelo proved that \(p\) being of infinite D'Angelo type is equivalent to the existence of a complex curve through \(p\) contained in \(M\). In this paper, the authors prove a formal version of this equivalence in the smooth case. The key ingredient of the proof is a formal Nullstellensatz for the ring of germs of formal complex power series at the origin.