How can I de-compress a source file on my basic MacBookAir (macOS Sierra Version 10.12.2) I've downloaded the source file from

https://arxiv.org/format/1610.01410v2

How can I decompress it to obtain the plain text
(say, in a TextEdit file)?

The file I downloaded is designated 

1610.01410   

that is it does not have a .gz or .tar extension

Can I issue certain commands in Terminal? Do I need more apps installed?
You can find out the type of find using the file command in Terminal. In this case we get:

# file 1610.01410v2
1610.01410v2: POSIX tar archive (GNU)


So, you can open it up using tar, from the terminal:

tar xvf 1610.01410v2
x defectfcn.eps
x sepvol2ment.tex


Or, just rename it to 1610.01410v2.tar and let the Finder handle it.