Some model theory of compact complex spaces (Q2715541)

It is quite noteworthy that, although real analysis and model theory closely interact via o-minimality, complex analysis has raised several difficulties to a model-theoretic treatment. For instance, while expanding the real field by the exponential function gives an o-minimal structure, \(({\mathbf C},+,\cdot, \exp)\) defines the integers (and so there is very little hope to understand its theory). However, in 1993 Boris Zilber observed that, though complex analytic functions do not admit a good model theory, compact complex analytic manifolds \(M\) allow a much more successful approach. In fact they can be viewed as first-order structures whose relations are just the analytic subsets of \(M^n\) when \(n\) ranges over the positive integers, and Zilber showed that the theory of a compact complex manifold \(M\) eliminates the quantifiers and has a finite Morley rank. More generally, one can consider the family \(A\) of compact complex spaces, viewed as a multi-sorted structure, whose sorts are the compact complex spaces and whose relations are the analytic subsets of the finite products of these spaces. This theory is again quantifier eliminable, and has a finite Morley rank in every sort. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe paper under review pursues the model-theoretic study of \(A\). The author proves that its theory eliminates the imaginaries as well. Then he shows an analogue of the Mordell-Lang Conjecture in \(A\) for complex tori (instead of abelian varieties): in detail, he proves that, if \(C\) is a complex torus, \(G\) is a finitely generated subgroup of \(C\) and \(X\) is an analytic subvariety of \(C\), then \(X \cap G\) is a finite union of translates of subgroups of \(C\). As the author points out, this was already known to other people, including Abramovich and Hrushovski; but this new proof provides an elementary reduction to the abelian variety case. A short history of the Mordell-Lang Conjecture is outlined at the beginning of the paper. A final section is devoted to discussing analogies between \(A\) and the class of finite-dimensional differential algebraic sets.NEWLINENEWLINEFor the entire collection see [Zbl 0955.00034].