A simple group generated by involutions interchanging residue classes of the integers. (Q2268160)

The article is an exposition and investigation of a countable simple group which naturally arises as a permutation group of the integers. The group \(\text{CT}(\mathbb{Z})\) is generated by all involutions of the following form: for given disjoint residue classes \((r_1\bmod m_1)\) and \((r_2\bmod m_2)\) (with \(0\leq r_i<m_i\)), for each \(k\), exchange \(km_1+r_1\) with \(km_2+r_2\) (`class transposition'). Thus \(\text{CT}(\mathbb{Z})\) is a subgroup of \(\text{RCWA}(\mathbb{Z})\), which is the group of so-called `residue-class-wise affine' permutations of the integers, first introduced by the author in order to deal with Collatz' ``\(3n+1\)'' conjecture: \textit{S. Kohl} [Adv. Appl. Math. 39, No. 3, 322-328 (2007; Zbl 1146.11015)] (also a GAP package). Is it shown among other properties that \(\text{CT}(\mathbb{Z})\) is simple, highly transitive on the non-negative integers, and that the class of its subgroups: contains all finite groups as well as all free groups of finite rank, and is closed under direct products, and under wreath products with finite groups.