Solvability near the characteristic set for a special class of complex vector fields

This work deals with the solvability near the characteristic set Sigma = {0} x S-1 of operators of the form L = partial derivative/partial derivative t+(x(n) a(x)+ ix(m) b(x))partial derivative/partial derivative x, b not equivalent to 0 and a(0) not equal 0, defined on Omega(epsilon) = (-epsilon, epsilon) x S-1, epsilon > 0, where a and b are real-valued smooth functions in (-epsilon, epsilon) and m >= 2n. It is shown that given f belonging to a subspace of finite codimension of C-infinity (Omega(epsilon)) there is a solution u is an element of L-infinity of the equation Lu = f in a neighborhood of Sigma; moreover, the L-infinity regularity is sharp.