# is the differential of the distance function holomorphic?

i have the following problem. Let $M$ be a complex n-dim manifold and $X \subset M$ be a n-dim real analytic submanifold. Consider $d_{X}(z)$ be the squared distance from $z \in M$ to $X$. For $z$ sufficiently near $X$ this function is smooth. My quaestion is: Is (with respect to complex coordinates $z_{1}, ..., z_{n}$) the function $\partial^{2} d_{X} / \partial z_{i} \partial \bar z_{j}$ is holomorphic? (assume that we have alredy choosen a hermitian metric to compute $d_{X}$).

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This was cross-posted to Math.SE ( math.stackexchange.com/q/57201/1543 ). For future reference, please refrain from simultaneously posting a question to both sites at the same time: there are a lot of overlap readers, and the fact that you didn't mention that the question is cross-posted can be considered rude (especially for more involved questions where users may spend a long time composing an answer for you on one site, only to find you've already accepted an essentially identical answer on the other). –  Willie Wong Aug 13 '11 at 16:40

Take the most simple example $M=\mathbb C$ and $X$ the unit circle. Then $d_X(z)=|z-\frac{z}{|z|}|^2$ is not holomorphic (so as its Laplacian $i\partial \bar \partial( d_X)$), as you can easily see by expanding the expression.