Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2012 / iii / Paper 55 / 4 / Solution

Fix the convention ${\iota }_{X_f}\omega =-df$ for a Hamiltonian vector field. Nondegeneracy of the symplectic form gives one unique smooth $X_f$ for each smooth real-valued function $f$. Define the Poisson bracket byIn coordinates with $\omega =\sum d{q}^i\wedge d{p}_i$, this is $\sum (f_{q^i}{g}_{p_i}-f_{p_i}{g}_{q^i})$. Thus the sign convention is explicit and agrees with the usual coordinate Poisson bracket. By Cartan's magic formula, ${\mathcal{L}}_{X_f}\omega =d{\iota }_{X_f}\omega +{\iota }_{X_f}d\omega =0$. The contraction–Lie derivative commutator identity now givesHence the Hamiltonian Lie algebra homomorphism is $\boxed{\Phi (f)=X_f,[X_f,X_g]=X_{\{f,g\}}}$. It is linear and onto the space of Hamiltonian vector fields by definition. For completeness, the Jacobi identity for the bracket on functions follows from closure of $\omega$: evaluating $d\omega =0$ on $X_f,X_g,X_h$ and using the displayed commutator relation gives the cyclic Jacobi sum zero. Thus this really is a map of Lie algebras, not just a bracket-preserving notation.

Its kernel is determined by nondegeneracy:On a connected manifold these are precisely the real constants; on a disconnected manifold the constant may differ on each component. Therefore the quotient by these functions is isomorphic to the Lie algebra of Hamiltonian vector fields. The printed “homeomorphis” is interpreted as homomorphism: the map before taking this quotient is not an isomorphism because of its nontrivial kernel. The alternative convention ${\iota }_{X_f}\omega =df$ requires a corresponding bracket sign change to retain this homomorphism.