Schwarz Lemma in Quaternionic Setting and $\mathbb C^4$

Abstract

We study a Schwarz Lemma on the matrix ball \[ \mathbb D^+=\{Z\in M_2(\mathbb C);\, \|Z\|<1\} \simeq U(2,2)/(U(2)\times U(2)), \] which arises naturally from the complexification of the quaternions. We prove Schwarz and Schwarz--Pick estimates on $\mathbb D^+$, construct its $U(2,2)$-invariant Riemannian Poincaré metric, and describe a Cayley transform to a tube-domain realization. The intrinsic spectral metric is the Kobayashi metric and is contracted by holomorphic maps. Comparing it with the Poincaré metric gives the sharp estimate $d(F(P),F(Q))\le \sqrt2\,d(P,Q)$ for every holomorphic self-map $F$ of $\mathbb D^+$; in general the constant $1$ is false. We also prove an infinitesimal rigidity statement and record a Burns--Krantz boundary rigidity theorem at the smooth part of $\partial\mathbb D^+$. Finally, we develop a conformally natural barycenter construction on the Shilov boundary $U(2)$. Every admissible probability measure has a unique barycenter in $\mathbb D^+$, the construction is $U(2,2)$-natural, and it gives a barycentric extension of suitable boundary maps. Under the natural admissibility hypothesis, a holomorphic self-map extending to $U(2)$ is the barycentric extension of its boundary values. Many aspects of this paper are motivated by quaternionic analysis, however, no prior knowledge of quaternionic analysis is required from the reader.