Free C_+-actions on C^3 are translations

DOI10.1007/S00222-003-0336-1MaRDI QIDQ1879010zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Shulim Kaliman

Publication date 22 September 2004

Published in Inventiones Mathematicae (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0207156

zbMATH Keywords

contractible affine varietyfree additive actionsmooth quotient

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Actions of groups on commutative rings; invariant theory (13A50) Group actions on varieties or schemes (quotients) (14L30) Affine spaces (automorphisms, embeddings, exotic structures, cancellation problem) (14R10) Group actions on affine varieties (14R20) Affine fibrations (14R25)

Abstract: Let X' be a smooth contractible three-dimensional affine algebraic variety with a free algebraic C_+ -action on it such that S =X'// C_+ is smooth. We prove that X' is isomorphic to $SimesC$ and the action is induced by a translation on the second factor. As a consequence we show that any free algebraic C_+ -action on C^3 is a translation in a suitable coordinate system.

Review text

In understanding the polynomial automorphism group Aut \(\mathbb C^n\) it is very helpful (and interesting in itself) to describe its one-parameter subgroups. Therefore, the classification of algebraic \(\mathbb C_+\)-actions on \(\mathbb C^n\) (or, equivalently, locally nilpotent derivations) has received great attention during the last decades. It is classically known that each polynomial automorphism of the complex plane is a product of linear and triangular ones [\textit{H. Jung}, J. Reine Angew. Math. 184, 161--174 (1942; Zbl 0027.08503)] and that every \(\mathbb C_+\)-action on \(\mathbb C^2\) is triangular in a suitable polynomial coordinate system (this follows from \textit{A. Gutwirth}'s reproof of Jung's result [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 12, 631--638 (1961, Zbl 0105.34401)] and was explicitly proven by \textit{R. Rentschler} [C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 267, 384--387 (1968; Zbl 0165.05402)]). In particular, this implies that a free \(\mathbb C_+\)-action on \(\mathbb C^2\) can be viewed as a translation. The situation is different in higher dimensions: There is a \(\mathbb C_+\)-action on \(\mathbb C^3\) which is not triangularizable [\textit{H. Bass}, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 33, 1--5 (1984; Zbl 0555.14019)] and a free \(\mathbb C_+\)-action on \(\mathbb C^4\) which is not a translation [\textit{J. Winkelmann}, Math. Z. 204, 117--127 (1990; Zbl 0701.32014)]. It should be noted that also the structure of Aut \(\mathbb C^3\) is still unknown; \textit{U. U. Umirbaev} and \textit{I. P. Shestakov} [J. Am. Math. Soc. 17, No. 1, 197-227 (2004; Zbl 1056.14085)] proved recently that the analogue of Jung's result for \(\mathbb{C}^2\) doesn't hold. In the paper under review, the author classifies free \(\mathbb C_+\)-actions on \(\mathbb C^3\) in a more general setup: For a smooth contractible three-dimensional affine algebraic variety \(X\) with a free algebraic \(\mathbb C_+\)-action such that the quotient \(S=X/\!/\mathbb C_+\) is smooth, it is proven that \(X\) is isomorphic to \(S\times\mathbb C\) and the action is induced by a translation on the second factor. Combined with the result of \textit{M. Miyanishi} that \(\mathbb C^3/\!/\mathbb C_+\simeq \mathbb C^2\) for every nontrivial \(\mathbb C_+\)-action [Osaka J. Math. 17, 329--338 (1980; Zbl 0461.13009)], the author obtains as a corollary that every free algebraic \(\mathbb C_+\)-action on \(\mathbb C^3\) is a translation in a suitable coordinate system.

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