A group-theoretic characterization of the direct product of a ball and punctured planes (Q625597)

In a previous work, the authors characterized the space \(B^k \times {\mathbb C}^l\). In the present work they establish the following group-theoretic characterization of the space \(B^k \times (\mathbb C^*)^l\) where \(\mathbb C^*=\mathbb C/\{0\}\): Let \(M\) denote a connected Stein manifold of dimension \(n\). Assume that \(\Aut(M)\) is isomorphic to \(\Aut((B^k\times (\mathbb C^*)^{n-k})\) as topological groups for some integer \(k\) with \(0 \leq k\leq n\). Then \(M\) is biholomorphically equivalent to \(B^k\times (\mathbb C^*)^{n-k}\). It is also proved that if two pairs \((k,l)\) and \((s,t)\) of nonnegative integers do not coincide then the groups \(\Aut((B^k\times (\mathbb C^*)^{l})\) and \(\Aut((B^s\times (\mathbb C^*)^{t})\) are not isomorphic as topological groups.