Rigid birational involutions of $\mathbb{P}^3$ and cubic threefolds

Abstract

We construct families of birational involutions on $\mathbb{P}^3$ or a smooth cubic threefold which do not fit into a non-trivial elementary relation of Sarkisov links. As a consequence, we construct new homomorphisms from their group of birational transformations, effectively re-proving their non-simplicity. We also prove that these groups admit a free product structure. Finally, we produce automorphisms of these groups that are not generated by inner and field automorphisms.