The bracket width for Lie algebras of vector fields is finite

Abstract

We prove that the bracket width of the Lie algebra of vector fields on any smooth affine algebraic variety of dimension $n$ is at most $(n+1)^2$. We give improved bounds for some families of $\mathbb{C}^*$-varieties, in particular for $\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{C})$ and for the Koras--Russell cubic threefold.