Subgroups of elliptic elements of the Cremona group (Q827412)

The paper under review clarifies and improves a series of results on classification of subgroups of the plane Cremona group \(\mathrm{Cr}_2l(\mathbb{C})\). The main theorem of the paper from which the author obtains other consequences concerns subgroups of \(\mathrm{Cr}_2l(\mathbb{C})\) that contain only elliptic elements. Recall that an elliptic element of \(\mathrm{Cr}_2l(\mathbb{C})\) is a birational transformation whose degree growth is bounded. The author showed that such a subgroup is either conjugate to a group of automorphism of a rational surface, or preserves a pencil of rational curves, or is a torsion group. The novelty here is that the subgroup is not supposed to be finitely generated. For finitely generated subgroups it was proved in [\textit{S. Cantat}, Ann. Math. (2) 174, No. 1, 299--340 (2011; Zbl 1233.14011)]. In [loc. cit.] Cantat proved that \(\mathrm{Cr}_2l(\mathbb{C})\) satisfies the Tits Alternative for finitely generated subgroups. Based on the main theorem of this paper, the author proved the Tits Alternative for arbitrary subgroups. The author also studied solvable subgroups of \(\mathrm{Cr}_2l(\mathbb{C})\). He clarified and improved a previous theorem of \textit{J. Déserti} [Ill. J. Math. 59, No. 2, 345--358 (2015; Zbl 1360.14041)]. In particular he showed that the derived length of a solvable subgroup of \(\mathrm{Cr}_2l(\mathbb{C})\) is at most \(8\).