Holomorphic submersions from Stein manifolds

In this paper we prove results on the existence and homotopy classification of holomorphic submersions from Stein manifolds to other complex manifolds. We say that a complex manifold Y satisfies Property S_n for some integer n bigger or equal the dimension of Y if every holomorphic submersion from a compact convex set in C^n of a certain special type to Y can be uniformly approximated by holomorphic submersions from C^n to Y. Assuming this condition we prove the following. A continuous map f from an n-dimensional Stein manifold X to Y is homotopic to a holomorphic submersions of X to Y if and only if there exists a fiberwise surjective complex vector bundle map from TX to TY covering f. We also prove results on the homotopy classification of holomorphic submersions. We show that Property S_n is satisfied when n>dim Y and Y is any of the following manifolds: a complex Euclidean space, a complex projective space or Grassmanian, a Zariski open set in any of the above whose complement does not contain any complex hypersurfaces, a complex torus, a Hopf manifold, a non-hyperbolic Riemann surface, etc. In the case when Y is a complex Euclidean space the main result of this paper was obtained in [arXiv:math.CV/0211112].Comment: Annales Inst. Fourier, to appea

Runge approximation on convex sets implies the Oka property

We prove that the classical Oka property of a complex manifold Y, concerning the existence and homotopy classification of holomorphic mappings from Stein manifolds to Y, is equivalent to a Runge approximation property for holomorphic maps from compact convex sets in Euclidean spaces to Y.Comment: To appear in the Annals of Mat

Oka manifolds: From Oka to Stein and back

Oka theory has its roots in the classical Oka-Grauert principle whose main result is Grauert's classification of principal holomorphic fiber bundles over Stein spaces. Modern Oka theory concerns holomorphic maps from Stein manifolds and Stein spaces to Oka manifolds. It has emerged as a subfield of complex geometry in its own right since the appearance of a seminal paper of M. Gromov in 1989. In this expository paper we discuss Oka manifolds and Oka maps. We describe equivalent characterizations of Oka manifolds, the functorial properties of this class, and geometric sufficient conditions for being Oka, the most important of which is Gromov's ellipticity. We survey the current status of the theory in terms of known examples of Oka manifolds, mention open problems and outline the proofs of the main results. In the appendix by F. Larusson it is explained how Oka manifolds and Oka maps, along with Stein manifolds, fit into an abstract homotopy-theoretic framework. The article is an expanded version of the lectures given by the author at the Winter School KAWA-4 in Toulouse, France, in January 2013. A more comprehensive exposition of Oka theory is available in the monograph F. Forstneric, Stein Manifolds and Holomorphic Mappings (The Homotopy Principle in Complex Analysis), Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete, 3. Folge, 56, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg (2011).Comment: With an appendix by Finnur Larusson. To appear in Ann. Fac. Sci. Toulouse Math. (6), vol. 22, no. 4. This version is identical with the published tex

Noncritical holomorphic functions on Stein spaces

We prove that every reduced Stein space admits a holomorphic function without critical points. Furthermore, any closed discrete subset of such a space is the critical locus of a holomorphic function. We also show that for every complex analytic stratification with nonsingular strata on a reduced Stein space there exists a holomorphic function whose restriction to every stratum is noncritical. These result also provide some information on critical loci of holomorphic functions on desingularizations of Stein spaces. In particular, every 1-convex manifold admits a holomorphic function that is noncritical outside the exceptional variety.Comment: To appear in J. Eur. Math. Soc. (JEMS

Holomorphic flexibility properties of complex manifolds

We obtain results on approximation of holomorphic maps by algebraic maps, jet transversality theorems for holomorphic and algebraic maps, and the homotopy principle for holomorphic submersions of Stein manifolds to certain algebraic manifolds.Comment: To appear in Amer. J. Mat

The Oka principle for sections of subelliptic submersions

Let X and Y be complex manifolds. One says that maps from X to Y satisfy the Oka principle if the inclusion of the space of holomorphic maps from X to Y into the space of continuous maps is a weak homotopy equivalence. In 1957 H. Grauert proved the Oka principle for maps from Stein manifolds to complex Lie groups and homogeneous spaces, as well as for sections of fiber bundles with homogeneous fibers over a Stein base. In 1989 M. Gromov extended Grauert's result to sections of submersions over a Stein base which admit dominating sprays over small open sets in the base; for proof see [F. Forstneric and J. Prezelj: Oka's principle for holomorphic fiber bundles with sprays, Math. Ann. 317 (2000), 117-154, and the preprint math.CV/0101040]. In this paper we prove the Oka principle for maps from Stein manifolds to any complex manifold Y that admits finitely many sprays which together dominate at every point of Y (such manifold is called subelliptic). The class of subelliptic manifolds contains all the elliptic ones, as well as complements of closed algebraic subvarieties of codimension at least two in a complex projective space or a complex Grassmanian. We also prove the Oka principle for removing intersections of holomorphic maps with closed complex subvarieties A of the target manifold Y, provided that the source manifold is Stein and the manifolds Y and Y\A are subelliptic.Comment: Revised versio