Pub. Mat .

UAB
Vol
.
27
Ne 1
AUTOMORPHI SMSOF THE POLYNOMI AL
RI NGI NTWOVARI ABLES`
Warren Di cks
Let k be a fi el d, k[x, y] the pol ynom al ri ng i n two vari abl es, and
Aut k[x, y]
the
group of al l i ts k-al gebra automorphi sms
. Such an auto-
morph sm
wi l l be
denoted by
the
ordered
pai r (p, q) where p, q E k[x, y] are
the
respecti ve i mages
of x, y.
THEOREM. The group Aut k[x, y] i s generated by (y, x), (x, y
- ux
n
)
u E k, n ; 0.
Moreover Aut k[x, y] = A*UBwhere
A=
{(X11x+12y+1' X21x+a22y+2)I X11x22#~21>~12},
B =
{(a11x+Xl , a22y+f(x))I Xl l a22#O, f(x)
E k[x]},
0 =
AnB =
{(X
11
x+a1' ,
21
x+a
22y
+a2)I a
11
a
22
~0}
.
The
el ements of Aare cal l ed affi ne automorphi sms, the el ements of B
de
J onqui l res automorphi sms, and the el ements of the subgroup generated by
AUBare cal l ed
tame automorphi sms . The fact that al l k-al gebra auto
morphi sms of
k[x, y] are tame was proved by J ung [2]
for
char k = 0, and then
by Van der Kul k
[8] i n the general case. Fromthei r work the coproduct
decomposi ti on
fol l ows fai rl y easi l y, but i t i s not
cl ear
who fi rst made the
observati on.
(Kambayashi [3] gi ves the credi t to Shafarevi tch [7] . )
Rentschl er
[5] gave a very si mpl e proof of tameness for char k = 0, and
then al ong
sl i ghtl y di fferent l i nes Makar-L manov
[4]
gave a fai rl y si mpl e
proof for
arbi trary character sti c .

(News of Van
der
Kul k' s resul t seems not
to have reached
Moscowat that ti me, for Makar-Li manov refers to the resul t as
Semi nar gi ven at Uni versi tat Autnoma
de
Barcel ona,
J ul y 1981 .
155
unpubl i shed work of Shaf arevi tch. ) I n Che spi ri t of Serre [6l , Roger
Al peri n
El ]
gave an expl i ci t exampl e of a tree acted on by
Aut k[x, yl f rom
whi ch Che coproduct decomposi ti on can be read of f .
I n l bel owwe gi ve a modi f i ed versi on of Makar-Li manov' s proof ,
and
i n 2 recal l Al peri n' s exampl e.
I
amvery
gratef ul to P. M. Cohn f or provi d ng me wi th hi s transl ati on
of Makar-L manov' s thes s.
l

The
support
of a pri mi ti ve el ement
Let (f , g) be an automorphi smof k[x, yl .

I de can wri te
f =
I x
i
j xl
y
j
,
ai j e k and def i ne supp(f ) _ {x
y
l
I ai j
0} _ <x, y>,
where <x, y> i s Che f ree
abel an group generated by x, y. Let
m=x-deg(f ) , n =y-deg(f ) , that i s,
mi s Che hi ghest
exponent
of
x occurr ng
i n
supp(f ) , and si mi l arl y f or n.
Set o = {xl yj l ni +mj
<
mn, i ? 0, j 3 0}
S
<x, y>. Geometri cal l y, supp(f ) l i es
i n Che rectangl e determi ned by l , xm, xmy
n
, y
n
and A occupi es Che tri angl e
m
determi ned by l , x~, yn.
The obj ecti ve of Chi s secti on i s to show
xm, yn
e
supp(f ) cQ and
mi n
or
nl m.
I f mn =0 Chi s i s cl ear .
Thus we may assume mn >' O. Let m' =m/ (m, n) ,
n' =n/ (m, n) . These are
copri me natural numbers, so we can choose natural numbers
s, t such that
v
sm' -tn' =1 . Let u =xm/ yn , v =ys / xt i n
<x, y> so x =usvn , y =ut vm.
156
y
s
/ xt =v
n
m' n'
u=x / y
Thus k[x, y] c k[u, v] and we can wri te = Si j u1v]
so
supp(f) _
{ul v]I pi j
0}.
We defi ne the l eadi ng v-component of f to be
I fl
= (~u. . U' )V
i
e
k[u] > ' x
<v>
i
1J
where j = v-deg(f) .

I f then u-deg(I fl ) = i we
defi nej I fl l
=
ul
vi E<u, v> cal l ed
the
l eadi ng termof
f .
Thi s extends to
a
group homomorphi sm
11 I I : k(u, v)
x
-> <u, v> .

(Noti ce the superscr pt x i s bei ng used to denote the
set of nonzero el ements. ) The fol l owi ng statement i nd cates
the steps
i n
Makar-Li manov' s argument .
TREOREM1 .

( )

There exi st a, s Ek(u) x x <v> c k(u, v)x
such that
f

=

aaa (a

Ekx,

a

EI N+ )

and x, y

e k[a
+l ,
o] .
(i i ) There then exi st w, z E<u, v> such that <w> _
<~~I I >
or
<I I aI I . ~I a~I >
and
+l
x, y e sem gp<w, z> .
(i i ) Then
xm, yn
E
supp(f)
c p
and
f =
xm
and <w> = <x> .
( v) I f
<w> =
<I l ai b
then ml n.
(v)

I f <w>
=
~I I I I , I I SI b
then
nl m.
PROOF
.

(i ) Let K = k(u) and consi der the Laurent seri es fi el d K((v-1)) . I n
a natural way k(u, v c K _ ((v
-1))
and there are maps v-deg: K((v
1
)) x
-~ 7L,
1

1 : K((v
-1))
-> Kx
x
<v> extendi ng the correspond ng maps on k[u, v] .

We
vi ewkx as a subgroup of Kx x <v> cK((v1 )) x.

Si ncev-deg(f)

> 0 there
exi sts a E Kx x <v> such that the mage of a i n (Kx
x
<v> )/ kx generates a
x
maxi mal
cycl i c subgroup contai ni ng the mage of I fl , say
I f
= aaa a E k ,
a c ]N .

By
nduct on on a we shal l showthat for any f, g e K((v
-1))
wi th
I f
l
= aaa
aE kx, a EI N
"
' there exi sts R EKx
x
<v> such that
I k[f
l ~g]I
c
k[al , o] .
The
case a = 0 i s vacuous.
Let us now
defi ne a (possi bl y fi ni te) sequence i nducti vel y. Let
an
9,
= g. Suppose
we have
g
for some i > , 1 . I f
I gi l
=
al a)

for some
ni
al
E
k' ,
ni
E 7i we set
g +1
=
gi -x f
;
f g = 0 or gi 0
and I gi l i s not
of t hi s f ormwe l et
t he sequence end at
t he sequence
g1 92,
. . . has
a l i mi t g* i n K((v- 1
) ) ,
I f
g* =
0 t hen
k[f l , g]
c k((f
- l ) )

so

I k[f
1
c
k[I f l t l ]
c
k[ . 1 ]
and we can t ake R arbi t rary.
Thus we
may assume g* 0 so t he sequence i s f i ni t e
and
k[f l
. g]
l ~ k[f l
. g* ] "
I f
I f 1 , I g*)
are al gebrai cal l y i ndependent over k t hen i t i s
easy t o
see I k[f
l , g
*
]
x
i
c
k[I f I 1 , I g*I ]
and we can t ake S =
I g*I .
Th s l eaves t he case where
I f j , I g*I
are
al gebrai cal l y dependent over k.
I f c = v- deg(f ) , d = v- deg(g*) t hen
I f i d, I g*I ,
are al gebrai cal l y dependent
over k and are v- homogeneous wi t h t he same
v- degree. I t f ol l ows t hat
I f l d/ i g*I c l i es i n K and i s al gebrai c over
k
so
l i es i n k. Thus
i
I g*I
c
-

I f l
d
-
aad
(mod k
x
) .

But

(K
x
x <v>) / k
x
i s a t orsi on- f ree abel i an
group, and t he mage of a generat es a maxi mal cycl i c
subgroup, so ci ad and
I g*I
=
ab(mod kx ) where b = ad/ c . Sayl g*1 =
pab,
p e
kx . By t he def i ni t i on
of g* we know al b, say b = aq+r

0<r<a .

Let h = g* / f q. Then
I hi
-
ar (mod kx ) and t he i nduct i on hypot hesi s
appl i es t o t he pai r (h, f ) .
_
Hence t here exi st s B s Kx x <v> such t hat

I k[h
+1
, f ]
x
I
c
k[a
1
, B]
.

Now
I k[f
1
, g] x
i

I k[f +l , h]x1
c
I k[f , h]xI <I f I >
c
k[a
l , s] .
By i nduct i on
I k[f l , g]xj
c
k[aS] f or some R e
k(u) x
x <v>,
and (i ) i s proved Si nce
x. y
e
I k[f , g] x
i .
(i i )
Recal l t hat t wo el ement s of <u, v> are sa d t o be dependent i f t hey
generat e a cycl i c subgroup, and ot herwi se t hey are i ndependent , t hat i s,
f reel y generat e a f ree abel i an subgroup. I f
I I aI I ,
I I SI I are
i ndependent t hen
i t i s cl ear t hat x, y
e
I I k[a+l , s_

]x
1 I
c

semi gp<I I al ~1 , I I SI I >
and we can t ake
w=
al ,
z
=
1 1 01 1 . Thi s l eaves t he, case where
I I aI I
,
I I SI I are
dependent .

Let
w
be a generat or of
1 1
. 1 1 ,
1 1 01 : , say 1 1 - 1 1 =
wl .
1 1 61 1
=
wj , w=
I I ai ri l 0I h
"
Here
Si nce v- deg(g1 ) >
v- deg(g2 ) >
n
g*
= g- a
l f 1 - a
2
f
n2
g]
x
i , I k((f
- 1 ) ) x
1
I l a~ i ~
=
I I Pl I l
=wl j so there i s a un que V e kx such that z =
I l a' - PPi j j

w j
But z and
wl
j
have the same v- degree so w, z are i ndependent
. Let a' =acPd
. ,
P'

=aj
/ P1
- u
.

Then
I I
k[
a+l , P
+17 x, 1 =
l l k[ a' +l
. ( P' +u) +l ] xl l
c
I i k[ a' . P' ]
x
I l
<
w
>
c semi gp<wl , z>.
Thus x, y
e
semi gp<w
l , z>
and <w> _
<l l al h l l Pi b .
( i i i ) Geometri cal l y x, y
e semi gp<w
1,
z> means that one of the two
hal f - pl anes
determi ned by
wcontai ns both x and y. Ngwby ( i )
l l al l
=wl f or some
i nteger
i and on repl aci ng
wwi th w1 _i f necessary we may assume i 3
0.

By ( i ) ,
l i f I l =hi r l r
=
wi a
and
l i
f
l i
E

semi gp<x, y>

so w
E

semi gp<x, y>.

The
onl y way' thi s
can happen i s f or w
to l e al ong the x or y axi s, that i s,
w
s
a power of x
or y. But
<w, z> ? <x, y> so w s x or y. Thus
l l f l j i s
a power
of x or y. But
the onl y pl ace supp( f ) meets
the x or y axes i s i n A so
l l f l l e
A
and
thi s
( orces supp( f )
S A. The onl y way x- deg( f ) can be m s f or xmto
be n
supp( f ) , and si mi l arl y
yn
e supp( f ) .

Thus1I f l l
=xm
or yn.

But
u- deg( xm) =
u- deg( ums vmn' ) =ms . , u- deg( y
n
) . =
u- deg( untvm' n)
=n
t =ms- ( m, n)
<ms

so
l i
f
I l
=xm
.

Hence
<w>

=- <x>
.
( i v)

I f
~l al l >

=
<w>

=
<x>

then
I I
a
I I
= x.

But

by

( i )
l l f l l
=
l l aI i a
=

xa
and

by
( i i ) l l f l l
=
xmso a =m.

Thus I f l =aa m n k( x, y) so y- deg( l f 1)
=m( y- deg( a) ) .
And y- degl f l =n s nce
yn
E
supPI f I ,
so mi n.
( v) I f
<
I l al l , I I PI I >
_ <w> =
<x> then n' 7l =v- deg( <x>) =
v-
degJ I al i , I I PI I '
. )
=v- deg( <a, P>, ) . By ( i ) y
c
k[ n 1 , P] and thi s
. i s v- homogeneous so
v- deg( y)
E
v- deg( <a, P>) , that i s, - m' i s
a mul t pl e of n' so ni m. .
2

The Automorphi smGroup
C
For any p =

i j x1yj

E k[ x, y]
x
, we def i ne deg( p) =max{i +j l ui j

0} ;

i f
degp=d we def i ne p0
=
"i d- xi yd- i
cal l ed the l eadi ng component of p.
THEOREM2 ( [ 2] , [ 8] ) . Let ( p, q)
be a- k- al gebra automorph smof k[ x, y] wi th
degp

: 5 deg q.

Then. . ei ther

( p, q)

s af f i ne or there i s a un que
y

E
kx

and
Posi ti ve nteSer r such that
deg( q
-
uP
r
)
<deg( q)
"
PROOF. Let (f , g)
be
the
i nverse of (p, q) and l et f be as i n l . l i
deg(pm) deg(gn) then
deg(f (p, q)) = max{deg(pm
), deg(gn)}.
But f (p, q) = x so
p or q i s a pol ynomi al
i n x of degree 1 and the desi red concl usi on f ol l ows
easi l y. Thi s l eaves
the case where deg(p
m)
= deg(gn) . Here m>. n so nl mand
deg(pr ) = deg(q) f or r =
m'

We may assume (p, q) i s not af f i ne so degq > 1 .
n
Si nce f (p, q) = x i t f ol l ows
that
p0, g0
are al gebrai cal l y dependent over k.
Hence
q0/ pro
i s al gebrai c
over
k
so l i es i n k, say q00= u . Then
deg(q
- upr )
<
deg(q) as dsi red.
By
i nducti on on deg(q) i t f ol l ows easi l y f romTheorem2 that al l
k- al gebra automorphi sms of k[x, y] are
tame. I t i s even a si mpl e matter to
obtai n the decomposi ti on.
THEOREM3.

Aut k[x, y] = A*CB.
PROOF.
Let
P
be the ori ented graph whose verti ces are the
k- subspaces of
k[x, y]
and whose edges are the i ncl usi on maps.

Then Aut k[x, y]
acts i n a
natural _ way on r_he .- raph P_
Let T be the
orbi t of k+kx
3
1- 1- 1- -
, . L' - - el ai m
that
T i s a tree.
Any vertex
of T i s of the f ormk+kp or k+kp+kq where (p, q) s
some
automorph sm.
We def i ne deg(k+kp) = deg(p) and deg(k+kp+kq) _
max{deg(p), deg(q)} - } .
I t i s easy to see these are wel l - def i ned.
Consi der a
vertex of the f ormk+kp. We can f i nd an automorph sm
(p, q) wi th deg(q)
mi ni mal , so deg(q)
<
deg(p) or (p, q) i s af f i ne. Al l the
nei ghbours of k+kp
are of the f ormk+kp+k(q+h) where h e k[p] .

The onl y
nei ghbour of k+kp wi th smal l er degree
i s k+kp+kq; al l the others have
greater
degree.
Consi der a vertex of the f ormk+kp+kq where deg(q) <
deg(p) .

The
nei ghbours
are of the f ormk+k(ap+Sq) where a, R
e
kX
are not both zero; onl y
k+kq has
smal l er degree, al l the others have greater degree.
Fi nal l y,
the vertex k+kx+ky has smal l er
degree than al l i ts nei ghbours.
Thus every
path fromk+kx+ky i s stri ctl y i ncreasi ng (so
T has no
ci rcui ts) and
fromeach vertex there i s a str ctl y decreasi ng
path whi ch
must necessari l y
arri ve
at
k+kx+ky (so T i s connected) .
Hence T i s a tree.
Nowk+kx ;
k+kx+ky i s a transversal i n T for the acti on
of Aut k[x, y]
and the stabi l i zer of k+kx
s B whi l e the stabi l i ze_ of k+kx+ky s
A. Tb' . s
i mpl i es G = A*c B. c_ C6] .
REFERENCES
1 . R. C. ALPERI N, Homol ogy of the group of
automorph sms of k[x, y], J . Pure
and Appl . Al gebra 15 (1979) 109-115.
2. H. W. E. J UNG, Uber ganze bi rati onal e
transformati onen der Ebene, J . rei ne
angew. Math. 184 (1942) 161-174.
3. T. KAMBAYASHI , On the absence of
nontri vi al separabl e forms on the affi ne
pl ane, J . Al gebra 35 (1975)
449-456.
4. L. G.
MAKAR-LI MANOV, On automorphi sms of certai n al gebras
(Russi an),
Ph. D.
Thes s, Moscow, 1970.
5. R.
RENTSCHLER, Oprati ons du groupe addi ti f sur l e
pl an aff ne, C. R.
Acad.
Sc
. Pari s, Ser . A, 267 (1968) 384-387.
6.
J . -P
. SERR, Arbres, amal games et SL2 , Astr sque
No. 46, Soci t Math.
de France, 1977.
7. I . R. SHAFAREVI TCH, On some
i nf n te di mensi onal groups, pp. 208-212,
Att -Si mpos o
I ntecnaz. di Geom. Al g. Roma, 1965.
8 . W. VAN
DERKULK, On pol ynomi al ri ngs i n two vari abl es,
Ni euwArchi ef
voor
Wi sk
.
(3)
I (1953) 33-41 .
Rebut el 15j ul i ol 1982
Revi sat el
20
abri l
1982
Bedford
Col l ege
Regent' s Park
London, NW1 4NS