Hopf hypersurfaces of small Hopf principal curvature in \({\mathbb{C}{\text H}^2}\) (Q833341)

Complex projective space, \({\mathbb C}{\mathbb P}^n\), and complex hyperbolic space, \({\mathbb C}{\mathbf H}^n\), can be viewed as \(S^1\)-quotients of spheres of radius \(r\) in \({\mathbb C}^{n+1}\) with the standard inner product and with the Hermitian inner product of signature \((n,1)\), respectively. For a real hypersurface \(M\) in either of these spaces, one has a structure vector field \(W\) defined by \(JW=\xi\) where \(\xi\) is a unit normal and \(J\) the almost complex structure on \({\mathbb C}^{n+1}\). Let \(A\) denote the shape operator and \(\alpha=\langle AW,W\rangle\). If \(W\) is a principal vector everywhere (i.e. \(AW=\alpha W\)), \(M\) is called a Hopf hypersurface and \(\alpha\) the Hopf principal curvature. In [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 269, 481--499 (1982; Zbl 0492.53039)] \textit{T. E. Cecil} and \textit{P. J. Ryan} gave a local characterization of Hopf hypersurfaces in \({\mathbb C}{\mathbb P}^n\) as tubes over complex submanifolds. In [J. Math. Soc. Japan 37, 515--535 (1985; Zbl 0554.53021)] \textit{S. Montiel} gave a similar characterization of Hopf hypersurfaces in \({\mathbb C}{\mathbf H}^n\) for which \(\alpha>2/r\), the Hopf principal curvature of the horosphere. In the present paper the authors construct a class of Hopf hypersurfaces in \({\mathbb C}{\mathbf H}^2\) for which \(0\leq\alpha\leq2/r\) and show that for \(\alpha<2/r\) these can be characterized by Weierstrass-type data which take the form of a pair of contact curves in \(S^3\). A second problem considered in the paper is that of pseudo-Einstein hypersurfaces, i.e. those whose Ricci operator \(S\) is given by \(SX=\rho X+\sigma\langle X,W\rangle W\) where \(\rho\) and \(\sigma\) are constants. For \(n\geq3\) pseudo-Einstein hypersurfaces in \({\mathbb C}{\mathbb P}^n\) were classified by \textit{M. Kon} [J. Differ. Geom. 14, 339--354 (1979; Zbl 0461.53031)] and in \({\mathbb C}{\mathbf H}^n\) by Montiel. The classification for \(n=2\) was done by \textit{H. S. Kim} and \textit{P. J. Ryan} in [Differ. Geom. Appl. 26, No. 1, 106--112 (2008; Zbl 1143.53050)] but the present paper treats the case of hypersurfaces in \({\mathbb C}{\mathbf H}^2\) with \(\alpha=0\) more explicitly.