The range of holomorphic maps at boundary points (Q2509875)

Let \(D\) and \(D'\) be bounded strongly pseudoconvex domains in \(\mathbb{C}^n\) with smooth boundary, and let \(f:D\rightarrow D'\) be holomorphic. It is known that, under natural assumptions, the classical one-dimensional Julia-Wolff-Carathéodory theorem generalizes to higher dimensions for so-called regular contact points \(p\in \partial D\). In general, the local image of \(f\) near \(p\) can be very thin. In this paper, the authors define what is called a super-regular contact point, and as a main result prove that near such a point the local image of \(f\) is ``fat''. The essential assumption for super-regularity is that the Jacobian of \(f\) is bounded away from zero along normal non-tangential directions. For the proof of the main result, the authors first study the case when \(D\) and \(D'\) are both unit balls. Here the explicit nature of the automorphism group of the unit ball and the classical Rudin theorem for the unit ball are crucial. For general strongly pseudoconvex domains, the authors embed the domains into the unit ball using a recent result of Diederich-Fornæss-Wold and then use Abate's generalization of Rudin's theorem. An application of the main result to univalent maps is given in the last section. The paper also contains some interesting examples and counterexamples.