Some properties of the group of birational maps generated by the automorphisms of \(\mathbb P^n_{\mathbb C}\) and the standard involution (Q897503)

The group \(\mathrm{Cr}(n)\) of birational self-maps of \(\mathbb{P}^n\) is largely studied and its subgroups are the object of a particular interest. The object of the paper under review is the subgroup \(G_n\) generated by the automorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^n\) and a single birational self-map of order 2. While \(G_2=\mathrm{Cr}(2)\), for \(n\geq3\) we have \(G_n \subsetneq \mathrm{Cr}(n)\). Several properties of \(G_n\) are proved in the paper:{\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize} \item[A] the group is not linear, i.e., there is no nontrivial finite-dimensional linear representation of \(G_n\) over any field (Theorem A); \item [B] some of its subgroups are described (Proposition B); \item [C] it is perfect, \textit{i.e.} \([G_n,G_n]=G_n\) (Theorem C); \item [D] the action of the automorphism of \(\mathrm{Cr}(n)\) on \(G_n\) is studied (Theorem D); \item [E] it is simple (Proposition E). \end{itemize}} The results extend the known analogue results for \(\mathrm{Cr}(2)\) [\textit{D. Cerveau} and \textit{J. Déserti}, Transformations birationnelles de petit degré. Cours Spécialisés (Paris) 19. Paris: Société Mathématique de France (SMF) (2013; Zbl 1284.14002)] for A and C, [\textit{J. Déserti}, Compos. Math. 142, No. 6, 1459--1478, (2006; Zbl 1109.14015)] for D and [\textit{J. Blanc}, Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 43, No. 2, 357--364 (2010; Zbl 1193.14017)] for E. The techniques adapt proofs of analogue results for \(\mathrm{Cr}(n)\) and \(\mathrm{Aut}(\mathbb{C}^n)\) and use clever arguments from group theory and explicit constructions of special birational maps.