A characterization of totally <Emphasis Type="Italic">η</Emphasis>-umbilical real hypersurfaces and ruled real hypersurfaces of a complex space form

We give a characterization of totally η-umbilical real hypersurfaces and ruled real hypersurfaces of a complex space form in terms of totally umbilical condition for the holomorphic distribution on real hypersurfaces. We prove that if the shape operator A of a real hypersurface M of a complex space form M ⁿ (c), c ≠ 0, n ⩾ 3, satisfies g(AX, Y) = ag(X, Y) for any X, Y ∈ T ₀(x), a being a function, where T ₀ is the holomorphic distribution on M, then M is a totally η-umbilical real hypersurface or locally congruent to a ruled real hypersurface. This condition for the shape operator is a generalization of the notion of η-umbilical real hypersurfaces.