Geometry of Hermitian symmetric spaces under the action of a maximal unipotent group

Abstract

Let $\,G/K\,$ be a non-compact irreducible Hermitian symmetric space of rank $\,r\,$ and let $\,NAK\,$ be an Iwasawa decomposition of $\,G$. By the polydisc theorem, $\,AK/K\,$ can be regarded as the base of an $\,r$-dimensional tube domain holomorphically embedded in $\,G/K$. As every $\,N$-orbit in $\,G/K\,$ intersects $\,AK/K$ in a single point, there is a one-to-one correspondence between $\,N$-invariant domains in $\,G/K\,$ and tube domains in the product of $\,r\,$ copies of the upper half-plane in $\,\C$. In this setting we prove a generalization of Bochner's tube theorem. Namely, an $\,N$-invariant domain $\,D\,$ in $\,G/K\,$ is Stein if and only if the base $\,\Omega\,$ of the associated tube domain is convex and ``cone invariant". We also obtain a precise description of the envelope of holomorphy of an arbitrary holomorphically separable $\,N$-invariant domain over $\,G/K$.