Klein's conjecture for contact automorphisms of the three-dimensional affine space (Q2519154)

Take coordinates \(x\), \(y\), \(p\) on the affine space over a field of characteristic zero, and denote by \(\omega\) the Pfaffian form, equal to \(dy-pdx\). A Cremona transformation of the affine space which preserves this form (i.e. which sends it onto a multiple by a rational function) is said to be a contact transformation. One example of contact transformation is the Legendre transformation which is the automorphism that sends \((x,y,p)\) onto \((p,xp-y,x)\). Moreover, any birational map of the plane \((x,y)\dasharrow (f(x,y),g(x,y))\) is extendable to a contact transformation of the affine space of the form \((x,y,p)\dasharrow (f(x,y),g(x,y),h(x,y,p))\). In 1926, \textit{F. Klein} [Vorlesungen über höhere Geometrie. 3. Aufl., bearbeitet und herausgegeben von \textit{W. Blaschke}. Berlin, J. Springer (Die Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften in Einzeldarstellungen Bd. 22) (1926; JFM 52.0624.09)] conjectured that the group of contact transformations is generated by the Legendre transformation and by the transformations obtained by extension of a birational map of the \((x,y)\)-plane. In the article under review, the author proves the conjecture in the case when the contact transformations are polynomial automorphisms of the affine space. A description of the group of contact polynomial automorphisms in higher dimension is also provided.