Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2013 / iii / Paper 3 / 3 / a / Solution

The symplectic group consists of the invertible linear maps preserving the alternating bilinear form:We use row-vector action in this question, which is the convention compatible with its printed upper-triangular flag stabilizer subgroup. Thus matrices preserve a form matrix $J$ by $gJ{g}^T=J$.

Count ordered symplectic bases. There are $q^{2m}-1$ choices for the first nonzero vector $e_1$. Nondegeneracy makes the equation $(e_1,f_1)=1$ a nonzero linear-functional equation, with $q^{2m-1}$ solutions. Their span is a nondegenerate plane; its orthogonal complement is symplectic of dimension $2m-2$. Repeating there givesEach symplectic basis is the image of a fixed one under exactly one form-preserving map, justifying the count as a group order. If $q=p^a$, every factor $q^{2i}-1$ is prime to $p$, so the exact $p$-part is $q^{m^2}$.