Complementary conjecture revisited (Q1295610)

Let \(k\) be a field of characteristic zero. It is shown that if \(p_{11}(t)\), \(p_{12}(t)\), \(p_{21}(t)\), \(p_{22}(t)\) are polynomials in the variable \(t\) over \(k\) with zero constant terms and \(A(X,Y)\), \(B(X,Y)\in k[X,Y]\) are irreducible polynomials such that \(A(p_{11}(t), p_{12}(t))=0\), \(A(p_{21}(t), p_{22}(t))=t\), \(B(p_{11} (t),p_{12} (t))=t\), \(A(p_{21}(t), p_{22}(t))=0\), then \((A(X,Y), B(X,Y))\) is an automorphism of \(k[X,Y]\). This had previously been shown by \textit{T. T. Moh}, \textit{J. H. McKay} and \textit{S. S. Wang} [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 52, No. 1/2, 121-125 (1988; Zbl 0654.13011] but that proof relied on several difficult results, while the one given here does not.