Zero sets of solutions to semilinear elliptic systems of first order

Consider a nontrivial smooth solution to a semilinear elliptic system of first order with smooth coefficients defined over an n-dimensional manifold. Assume the operator has the strong unique continuation property. We show that the zero set of the solution is contained in a countable union of smooth (n−2)-dimensional submanifolds. Hence it is countably (n−2)-rectifiable and its Hausdorff dimension is at most n−2. Moreover, it has locally finite (n−2)-dimensional Hausdorff measure. We show by example that every real number between 0 and n−2 actually occurs as the Hausdorff dimension (for a suitable choice of operator). We also derive results for scalar elliptic equations of second order. Oblatum 22-V-1998 & 26-III-1999 / Published online: 10 June 1999