Extensions of \(L^d\)-Loewner chains to higher dimensions (Q393424)

Ch. Loewner [Math. Ann. 89, 103--121 (1923; JFM 49.0714.01)] introduced the theory nowadays bearing his name in order to deal with slit maps and the Bieberbach conjecture. Such a theory has been developed in the years by many mathematicians, among which, P. P. Kufarev and Ch. Pommerenke, and, in higher dimension, by Pfaltzgraff, Suffridge and the authors of the paper under review. In recent years, the reviewer et al. [J. Reine Angew. Math. 672, 1--37 (2012; Zbl 1267.30025); Math. Ann. 344, No. 4, 947--962 (2009; Zbl 1198.32010)] introduced a general version of Loewner theory, working on hyperbolic complex manifolds and dealing with weaker regularity conditions. Such objects were called \(L^d\)-Herglotz vector fields, \(L^d\)-evolution families and \(L^d\)-Loewner chains. Roughly speaking, no base point is selected in the evolution equation and the regularity of the data depends on a locally \(L^d\), \(d\geq 1\), function instead of just a \(L^\infty\) function. The paper under review fits into this scheme. The authors consider extension operators of Roper-Suffridge type or Pfaltzgraff-Suffridge type and their modifications and prove that they transform \(L^d\)-Loewner chains in \(L^d\)-Loewner chains. More in details, an extension operator from the unit disc to the unit ball is an operator which takes a holomorphic object in the unit disc in some given category and creates a holomorphic object in the same category in the unit ball. The authors first give a direct proof of the fact that, in the unit ball, to every \(L^d\)-Loewner chain there corresponds an essentially unique \(L^d\)-Herglotz vector field which solves the Loewner PDE. Then they define branches of extension operators in order to deal with non-normalized \(L^d\)-Loewner chains and show that, given a homogeneous polynomial \(Q: \mathbb C^{n-1}\to \mathbb C\) of degree \(2\) with \(\|Q\|\leq 1/4\) and a \(L^d\)-Loewner chain \((f_t)\) on the unit disc, then, setting \[ F_t(z_1,z'')=(f_t(z_1)+f_t'(z_1)Q(z''), e^{t/2}\sqrt{f_t'(z_1)}z''), \quad (z_1,z'')\in \mathbb C\times \mathbb C^n, \] it follows that \((F_t)\) is a \(L^d\)-Loewner chain in the unit ball of \(\mathbb C^n\). They also study the range of \((F_t)\) in terms of the range of \((f_t)\) and consider extension of starlike mappings, proving that they are also starlike. Then they consider other type of extension operators, proving similar results. The paper ends with a note on extension on complex Banach spaces and a section containing various examples and open problems.