Maximal nilpotent complex structures

Let the pair $(\mathfrak{g},J)$ be a nilpotent Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ (NLA for short) endowed with a nilpotent complex structure $J$. In this paper, motivated by a question in the work of Cordero, Fern\'andez, Gray and Ugarte, we prove that $2\leq \nu(J) \leq 3$ for $(\mathfrak{g},J)$ when $\nu(\mathfrak{g})=2$, where $\nu(\mathfrak{g})$ is the step of $\mathfrak{g}$ and $\nu(J)$ is the unique smallest integer such that $\mathfrak{a}(J)_{\nu(J)}=\mathfrak{g}$ as in Definition 1 and 8 of the paper by Cordero, Fern\'andez, Gray and Ugarte. When $\nu(\mathfrak{g})=3$, for arbitrary $n \geq 3$, there exists a pair $(\mathfrak{g},J)$ such that $\nu(J)=\dim_{\mathbb{C}}\mathfrak{g}=n$, for which we call the $J$ in the pair $(\mathfrak{g},J)$, satisfying $\nu(J)=\dim_{\mathbb{C}}\mathfrak{g}=n$, a maximal nilpotent (MaxN for short) complex structure. The algebraic dimension of a nilmanifold endowed with a left invariant MaxN complex structure is discussed. Furthermore, a structure theorem is proved for the pair $(\mathfrak{g},J)$, where $\nu(\mathfrak{g})=3$ and $J$ is a MaxN complex structure.