No label defined (Q4939256)

This is a survey which presents some recent progress in the theory of deformations of noncompact complex hyperbolic manifolds of infinite volume with variable sectional curvature and the related theories like deformations of spherical Cauchy-Riemannian manifolds at their infinity varieties of discrete faithful representations of the fundamental groups \(\pi_1M\) into \(PU(n,1)\) and quasiconformal stability of deformations of such groups and manifolds. There are different rigidity type results in complex, real quaternionic and octonionic hyperbolic geometry due to Corlette, Margulis, Yue and the author and Kim part of which are explained in the first sections of the paper under review. In sections 4 and 5 the author shows that in contrast to these results there are non-rigid complex hyperbolic spaces in the following two classes: complex Stein surfaces homotopy equivalent to their non-compact complex analytic subspaces, and Stein spaces represented by complex hyperbolic manifolds homotopy equivalent to their closed totally real geodesic submanifolds. The reviewer considers the paper as a complement (with overlaps in sections 3 and 5) to the previous one by the author [Russ. Math. Surv. 52, No. 5, 895-928 (1997; Zbl 0920.32024)] and finds both papers to be a useful guide to the study of this area in complex hyperbolic geometry. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0927.00035].