Geometric plurisubharmonicity and convexity: An introduction

Abstract

This is an essay on potential theory for geometric plurisubharmonic functions. It begins with a given closed subset G of the Grassmann bundle G(p,TX) of tangent p-planes to a riemannian manifold X. This determines a nonlinear partial differential equation which is convex but never uniformly elliptic (p<dimX). A surprising number of results in complex analysis carry over to this more general setting. The notions of: a G-submanifold, an upper semi-continuous G-plurisubharmonic function, a G-convex domain, a G-harmonic function, and a G-free submanifold, are defined. Results include a restriction theorem as well as the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the Dirichlet Problem for G-harmonic functions on G-convex domains.