On the group of automorphisms of the free group. I: Transvections (Q1969376)

The author defines a kind of automorphisms of a free group which is a natural generalization of elementary Whitehead automorphisms and consists of multiplying on the right a certain subset of the generators and their inverses with a word instead of a letter. He calls these automorphisms transvections. Here, he studies properties of these transvections and considers groups which are generated by transvections. He also gives a new presentation of the automorphism group of a free group using as generators a set of elementary transvections. His treatment is combinatorial and makes use of Fox's free differential calculus to get some useful transvections which, as he says, will be used in subsequent papers. To give more details of this long beautifully written paper in a review is out of place. But the paper is written in a rigorous manner and a combinatorial flavour is present in every step. The reference list contains 38 items useful for a beginner but also for an expert.