On the automorphism group of the first Weyl algebra

Abstract

Let $A_{1} := k [t, \partial ]$ be the first algebra over a field $k$ of characteristic zero. One can associate to each right ideal $I$ of $A_1$ its Stafford subgroup, which is a subgroup of $\Aut_k(A_1)$, the automorphism group of the ring $A_1$. In this article we show that each Stafford subgroup is equal to its normalizer. For that, we study when the Stafford subgroup of a right ideal of $A_1$ contains a given Stafford subgroup.