The affine automorphism group of \(\mathbb{A}^{3}\) is not a maximal subgroup of the tame automorphism group (Q887905)

Important subgroups of the group of automorphisms of a polynomial ring \(k[x,y,z]\) in three variables over a field \(k\) are the group \(\mathrm{Aff}_{3}(k)\) of affine automorphisms and the group \(\mathrm{TA}_{3}(k)\) of so-called tame automorphisms, generated by \(\mathrm{Aff}_{3}(k)\) and triangular automorphisms, that is, automorphisms of the form \((x,y,z)\mapsto\left(ax+p(y,z),by+q(z),cz\right)\) where \(a,b,c\in k^{*}\), \(p(y,z)\in k[y,z]\) and \(q(z)\in k[z]\). It is know that if the characteristic of \(k\) is positive then \(\mathrm{Aff}_{3}(k)\) is not a maximal subgroup of \(\mathrm{TA}_{3}(k)\). In the article under review, the authors show that the same result holds for fields \(k\) of characteristic zero by constructing a family of proper subgroups between \(\mathrm{Aff}_{3}(k)\) and \(\mathrm{TA}_{3}(k)\). They also show that these subgroups are amalgamated free products of the affine group and finite groups over their intersections.