Holomorphic curves in complex spaces (Q996170)

The authors study the existence of topologically closed complex curves normalized by bordered Riemann surfaces in complex spaces. The main result is the following: Theorem. Let \(X\) be an irreducible complex space of dimension \(>1\) and let \(\rho:X\to\mathbb{R}\) be a smooth exhaustion function that is \((n-1)\)-convex on the set \(\{ x\in X : \rho(x)>c\}\) for some \(c\in\mathbb{R}\). Given a bordered Riemann surface \(D\) and a \(\mathcal{C}^2\)-map \(f:\overline{D}\to X\) which is holomorphic in \(D\) and satisfies \(f(D)\not\subset X_{\text{sing}}\) and \(f(bD)\subset X_c\), there exists a sequence of proper holomorphic maps \(g_{\nu}:D\to X\) homotopic to \(f|_D\) and converging to \(f\) uniformly on compact sets in \(D\) as \(\nu\to\infty\). Given an integer \(k\in\mathbb{N}\) and finitely many points \(\{z_i\}\subset D\), each \(g_{\nu}\) can be chosen to have the same \(k\)-jet as \(f\) at each of the points \(z_j\). The authors show by examples that the conditions in this theorem are essentially optimal. They also prove that a compact complex curve with \(\mathcal{C}^2\)-boundary in a complex space admits a basis of open Stein neighborhoods. They obtain several consequences of these results, including new approximation theorems.