Subcritical Stein manifolds are split

TL;DR

This paper proves that all subcritical Stein manifolds can be deformed into a product of a Stein manifold with the complex plane, simplifying their structure.

Contribution

It establishes that subcritical Stein manifolds are deformation equivalent to a product with , revealing a fundamental structural property.

Findings

Subcritical Stein manifolds are deformation equivalent to a product with .

This simplifies understanding their geometric structure.

The result provides a new perspective on Stein manifold classification.

Abstract

It is shown that every subcritical Stein manifold is deformation equivalent to the product of a Stein manifold with $\C$.