On vanishing-curvature extensions of Lorentzian metrics (Q1345058)

We study the problem of extending Lorentzian metrics, defined on the boundary of a smooth domain in \(\mathbb{C}\), into the interior of the domain in such a way that the curvature vanishes. This amounts to solving a nonlinear partial differential equation for matrices with given boundary values. Generalizing and strengthening a result of \textit{B. Berndtsson} [Several complex variables, Proc. Mittag-Leffler Inst., Stockholm/Swed. 1987-88, Math. Notes 38, 136-159 (1993; Zbl 0772.32014)]\ we prove that solutions do exist for certain boundary metrics, assuming the existence of a ``subsolution''. The proof is based on the continuity method with a result of \textit{R. R. Coifman} and \textit{S. Semmes} [Am. J. Math. 115, No. 2, 243-278 (1993; Zbl 0789.46021)]\ concerning positive definite metrics as the starting point.