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A symplectic capacity assigns $c(X,\omega )\in [0,\infty ]$ to symplectic manifolds in a fixed dimension, is monotone under symplectic embeddings, satisfies $c(X,a\omega )=ac(X,\omega )$ for $a>0$, and is nontrivial in the sense thatThe second domain is the standard symplectic cylinder. A normalized symplectic capacity assigns $\pi$ to both unit domains, hence $\pi R^2$ to both radius-$R$ domains. The general axioms already give invariance under symplectomorphisms and quadratic scaling under coordinate dilation. For the rigidity argument, use the assumed existence of capacities in each dimension, including after adding a symplectic plane; normalization is not needed.

Let ${\varphi }_j$ be symplectomorphisms converging locally uniformly to a smooth diffeomorphism $\varphi$. Work in Darboux charts. For a sufficiently small solid ellipsoid $E$ centered at a chosen point and $0<a<1$, uniform convergence and degree of a continuous mapping give, for large $j$,For the second inclusion, ${\varphi }^{-1}{\varphi }_j$ is uniformly close to the identity on the larger ellipsoid. Its boundary stays outside $\overline{E}$ and is homotopic there to the identity, so it has degree one about every point of $E$ and must cover $E$. Monotonicity and scaling now give $a^{2}c(E)\le c(\varphi (E))\le a^{-2}c(E)$. Letting $a$ tend to one proves capacity preservation under uniform limits.

At the chosen point, write $T=D\varphi$. The rescaled maps $(\varphi (tz)-\varphi (0))/t$ preserve capacities of ellipsoids and converge uniformly on compact sets to $T$. Applying the same sandwich argument proves that $T$ preserves the capacities of all solid ellipsoids; so does $T^{-1}$.

We prove the required linear capacity rigidity explicitly. Write the standard symplectic form as $\Omega$. Suppose $\Omega (u,v)=1$ andComplete $u,v$ to a symplectic basis, and complete $T^{T}u/\lambda$, with the appropriately signed $T^{T}v/\lambda$, to another symplectic basis. If their basis matrices are $P,P^{\prime }$, then $A=(P^{\prime }{)}^{-1}{T}^{T}P$ has first two columns $\lambda e_1,\pm \lambda f_1$. Hence $A^T$ sends the unit ball into the symplectic cylinder of radius $\lambda$. This matrix differs from $T$ by symplectic linear maps, so it preserves capacities of ellipsoids. Its first coordinate pair is multiplied by $\lambda$, with a possible sign, and therefore $(A^T{)}^k$ sends the unit ball into the cylinder of radius ${\lambda }^k$. Monotonicity givesfor every $k$, contradicting finiteness of the right-hand unit-cylinder capacity as $k$ tends to infinity. For a normalized capacity, the first iterate already gives the contradiction.

A zero pairing is handled by a small perturbation of $u,v$. A pairing of absolute value greater than one gives the same contradiction for $T^{-1}$, after normalizing the transformed pair. Thusfor every pair. The squared bilinear forms agree, so their difference times their sum is the zero polynomial. The real polynomial ring is an integral domain; consequently one factor vanishes identically. Therefore $T$ is either symplectic or anti-symplectic.

To eliminate the negative sign, repeat the argument for ${\varphi }_j\times {\mathrm{id}}_{{\mathbb{R}}^2}$, which are symplectomorphisms for $\omega \oplus {\omega }_{{\mathbb{R}}^2}$. If ${\varphi }^{\ast }\omega =-\omega$ at the chosen point, the limit pulls this product form back to $-\omega \oplus {\omega }_{{\mathbb{R}}^2}$, which is neither the product form nor its negative. This contradicts the preceding derivative classification. Thus ${\varphi }^{\ast }\omega =\omega$ everywhere. We have proved the Eliashberg–Gromov rigidity theorem: the symplectomorphism group is closed in the $C^0$ topology on diffeomorphisms.

Finally put $E=W^{\perp }$, with perpendicularity taken for the standard Euclidean inner product. Its dimension is two, so being nonisotropic means that the restricted symplectic form is nondegenerate. For the standard compatible complex structure $J$, $W^{\omega }=JE$. If $Jv\in W\cap JE$, then $v\in E$ and $\omega (v,e)=0$ for every $e\in E$, forcing $v=0$. Thus $W$ is a symplectic subspace and admits a symplectic basis extended to the whole space.

In the resulting linear symplectic coordinates, $W$ is $\{q_1=p_1=0\}$. The projection of the bounded set $U$ to the $(q_1,p_1)$ plane is bounded, so $U+W$ lies in a symplectic cylinder of some finite radius $R$. As $U$ is nonempty and open, it contains a ball of some radius $r>0$, which is also contained in $U+W$. Monotonicity and scaling giveas in capacity of a bounded set thickened by a symplectic subspace. For a normalized symplectic capacity, the two bounds simplify to $\pi r^2$ and $\pi R^2$.

We construct the exceptional isomorphism between sp4 and so5. Let $W={\mathbb{C}}^4$ have a nondegenerate alternating form $\Omega$ and symplectic basis $a_1,b_1,a_2,b_2$. Define the symplectic contraction of an exterior squareIt is equivariant for the symplectic Lie algebra, and $\dim E=5$. Identify ${\Lambda }^{4}W$ with $\mathbb{C}$ using $a_1\wedge b_1\wedge a_2\wedge b_2$. Wedge product then gives a symmetric bilinear form $B(\xi ,\eta )=\xi \wedge \eta$ on ${\Lambda }^{2}W$. It is nondegenerate, as the wedge-basis vectors pair with their complementary pairs.

The bivector $\tau =a_1\wedge b_1+a_2\wedge b_2$ is invariant under $\mathfrak{sp}(W)$, satisfies $B(\tau ,\tau )=2$, and has $B(\xi ,\tau )=\kappa (\xi )$. Consequently $E={\tau }^{\perp }$ and $B{|}_E$ is nondegenerate. The exterior-power Lie algebra representation preserves wedge product and the volume form, so restriction gives a homomorphismWe check injectivity directly. If $X$ acts trivially on $E$, it also annihilates the invariant line $\mathbb{C}\tau$, hence acts trivially on all of ${\Lambda }^{2}W$. In any basis $w_1,\dots ,w_4$, the equation $X(w_i\wedge w_j)=0$ forces every off-diagonal coefficient $X_{ki}$ to vanish: choose $j$ distinct from $i,k$ and inspect the coefficient of $w_k\wedge w_j$. Thus $X$ is diagonal. Its diagonal entries $x_i$ satisfy $x_i+x_j=0$ for every pair, which forces them all to be zero. Therefore $\Phi$ is injective.

A symplectic matrix has infinitesimal block form $\left(\begin{array}{cc}A& B\\ C& -A^T\end{array}\right)$ with $B,C$ symmetric, so $\dim {\mathfrak{sp}}_4=4+3+3=10$. Also $\dim \mathfrak{so}(E,B)=5\cdot 4/2=10$. Injectivity and equal dimensions make $\Phi$ an isomorphism. Every nondegenerate complex symmetric form in dimension five is equivalent by a change of basis to the given antidiagonal form, so

Let $V=H^0(C,{\Omega }_C^1)$, of complex dimension $g$, and choose a symplectic basis $a_1,\dots ,a_g,b_1,\dots ,b_g$ of $H_1(C,\mathbb{Z})$, with $a_i\cdot b_j={\delta }_{ij}$. Integration gives a homomorphismWe first prove both injectivity and discreteness, rather than treating periods as a lattice by definition.

Cut the compact Riemann surface along this basis to a polygon. For closed one-forms $\omega ,\eta$, choose a primitive $F$ of $\omega$ on the cut polygon and apply Stokes theorem to $d(F\eta )=\omega \wedge \eta$. Pairing its boundary edges records the jumps of $F$ across the cuts and gives the Riemann bilinear relations for a compact surface:If a holomorphic differential form $\omega$ has all $a$-periods zero, take $\eta =\overline{\omega }$. The right side is zero, while in a holomorphic coordinate, for $\omega =f(z)dz$,Its integral is strictly positive unless $\omega =0$. Thus the $a$-period map $V\to {\mathbb{C}}^g$ is injective, hence an isomorphism. Choose a basis ${\omega }_1,\dots ,{\omega }_g$ with ${\int }_{a_j}{\omega }_i={\delta }_{ij}$, and put ${\tau }_{ij}={\int }_{b_j}{\omega }_i$. Applying the same boundary identity to ${\omega }_i,{\omega }_j$, whose wedge product is zero, gives ${\tau }_{ij}={\tau }_{ji}$. Applying it to $\omega =\sum c_i{\omega }_i$ and its conjugate givesHence $\mathrm{Im}\tau$ is positive definite.

In the dual coordinates, $I(\sum m_i{a}_i+n_i{b}_i)=m+\tau n$. The real-linear map $(x,y)\mapsto x+\tau y$ from ${\mathbb{R}}^{2g}$ to ${\mathbb{C}}^g$ is an isomorphism: taking imaginary parts of a zero gives $(\mathrm{Im}\tau )y=0$, then $y=0$ and $x=0$. Its image of ${\mathbb{Z}}^{2g}$ is therefore discrete and cocompact, and no nonzero integral cycle has zero image. Thus

The Abel-Jacobi map of a compact Riemann surface sends an effective complex analytic divisor $D=\sum Q_i$ to ${\sum }_i{\int }_{P_0}^{Q_i}({\omega }_1,\dots ,{\omega }_g)$ modulo $\Lambda$. Changing a path adds an integral period, so the map is well-defined. For two degree-$d$ complex analytic divisors, let $E=D-D^{\prime }={\sum }_P{n}_{P}P$, with $\sum n_P=0$, and putWe prove that $E$ is principal exactly when $v\in \Lambda$, including the construction of a meromorphic function.

First construct a differential of the third kind $\eta$ with residues $n_P$ at the support of $E$ and no other poles. For the reduced support $S$, the residue exact sequence isOn sheaf cohomology, the obstruction to prescribing residues belongs to $H^1(C,K_C)\cong \mathbb{C}$ by Serre duality; its pairing with the constant section of ${\mathcal{O}}_C$ is the sum of residues. This follows directly by integrating the local simple-pole terms around the boundary circles. Thus the obstruction is zero because $\sum n_P=0$, and the required $\eta$ exists. Subtract a linear combination of the normalized holomorphic differential forms so that all its $a$-periods are zero.

Take its poles and the integration paths inside the same cut polygon. Apply the boundary calculation above to a primitive $F_i(P)={\int }_{P_0}^P{\omega }_i$, removing small circles around the poles of $\eta$. Since $d(F_i\eta )=0$ away from the poles, the paired outer edges contribute $B_i(\eta )$, while the small circles contribute $2\pi i{\sum }_P{n}_P{F}_i(P)$ by the residue theorem. ThereforeThe same argument without normalizing $\eta$ gives the useful reciprocity identityThese identities use compatible cuts and paths; the final conclusions are unchanged by integral periods.

Suppose $v=m+\tau n$ with $m,n\in {\mathbb{Z}}^g$. DefineIts $a$-periods are $-2\pi i{n}_i$, and its $b$-periods are $2\pi i{m}_i$. Around a pole its integral is $2\pi i{n}_P$. These cycles generate the first homology group of the punctured surface, so every period of ${\eta }^{\prime }$ belongs to $2\pi i\mathbb{Z}$. Choosing an auxiliary point $Q$ away from the poles, setIt is single-valued away from the poles. Locally ${\eta }^{\prime }=n_{P}dt/t+\text{a holomorphic one-form}$, so $f=t^{n_P}$ times a nonvanishing holomorphic function. It extends meromorphically with $\mathrm{div}(f)=E$. This proves sufficiency and explicitly produces the required principal complex analytic divisor.

Conversely, if $E=\mathrm{div}(f)$, the meromorphic differential $df/f$ has residues $n_P$ and every period in $2\pi i\mathbb{Z}$, since each integral counts the winding number of $f$ about zero. Write its $a$-period vector as $2\pi ia$ and its $b$-period vector as $2\pi ib$, with $a,b\in {\mathbb{Z}}^g$. The reciprocity identity gives $v=b-\tau a\in \Lambda$. Since $E$ has degree zero, changing the base point cancels in its Abel sum; a base point at the support of $E$ causes no problem, because the Abel integrals use holomorphic forms. We have provedThis establishes the Abel theorem for divisors directly from the period and residue calculations.

Let $V$ have dimension $2m$ over ${\mathbb{F}}_q$, with a nondegenerate alternating bilinear form $B$. The symplectic group isIt acts freely and transitively on ordered symplectic bases. Choose the first vector $e_1\ne 0$ in $q^{2m}-1$ ways, then choose $f_1$ with $B(e_1,f_1)=1$ in $q^{2m-1}$ ways. Their span is nondegenerate, so choose the remaining symplectic basis in its orthogonal complement. This gives the recurrenceand therefore

For the permutation module ${\mathbb{F}}_2^r$ with $r$ even, put $\mathbf{t}=(1,\dots ,1)$ andIt is invariant under coordinate permutations and has codimension one. The dot product restricted to $W$ is alternating because $B(x,x)={\sum }_i{x}_i^2={\sum }_i{x}_i=0$. Since the ambient dot product is nondegenerate, $W^{\perp }=⟨\mathbf{t}⟩$. Evenness of $r$ ensures $\mathbf{t}\in W$, soHere the word symplectic must be understood as an alternating form before quotienting: a form with a nonzero radical is degenerate. The nondegenerate symplectic form is induced on $\overline{W}=W/⟨\mathbf{t}⟩$, of dimension $r-2$.

Now put $r=2m+2$. Coordinate permutations preserve the induced form and give a homomorphism $S_r\to S{p}_{r-2}(2)$. To see it is faithful for $r\ge 6$, suppose a permutation $\sigma$ acts trivially on $\overline{W}$. For every pair of distinct indices,The two weight-two vectors could differ by $\mathbf{t}$ only if the complement of a two-element set also had size two. For $r\ge 6$ that is impossible. Thus $\sigma$ preserves every two-element set, and hence fixes every index: intersect two such sets with one common element. ThereforeFor $m=2$, both groups have order $720$, and the injection is onto. This provesThe lower bound matters: for $r=4$ the action on the quotient has the Klein four-group as group homomorphism kernel. The construction is the deleted permutation module in characteristic two.

Let $U$ be a four-dimensional symplectic vector space, with a symplectic basis $e_1,f_1,e_2,f_2$. Its invariant inverse-form bivector may be chosen as $\eta =e_1\wedge f_1+e_2\wedge f_2$. Put $\mathrm{vol}=e_1\wedge f_1\wedge e_2\wedge f_2$, so $\eta \wedge \eta =2\mathrm{vol}$. Define a symmetric bilinear form on the six-dimensional exterior square byIt is symmetric because both factors have degree two. It is nondegenerate: in the six-element wedge basis, every $e_a\wedge e_b$ pairs nontrivially with the wedge of the complementary pair and with no other basis vector. Since $B(\eta ,\eta )=2$, the orthogonal complementhas dimension five and inherits a nondegenerate bilinear form. It is the primitive exterior square, equivalently the kernel of the symplectic contraction of an exterior square.

The symplectic Lie algebra preserves $\eta$. It also preserves $\mathrm{vol}$, since its elements have trace zero and the induced action on ${\Lambda }^{4}U$ is multiplication by that trace. The exterior-power Lie algebra representation therefore preserves $B$ and $W$, giving a Lie algebra homomorphismTo show injectivity, suppose $A$ acts as zero on $W$. It already acts as zero on the invariant line $\mathbb{C}\eta$, so it kills all of ${\Lambda }^{2}U=W\oplus \mathbb{C}\eta$. For any basis $u_1,\dots ,u_4$, this meansIf $k\ne i$, choose $j$ distinct from $i,k$; the coefficient of $u_k\wedge u_j$ forces $A_{ki}=0$. Thus $A$ is diagonal. The same identity gives $A_{ii}+A_{jj}=0$ for every pair. Applying this to three distinct indices forces each diagonal entry to vanish. Hence $A=0$ and $\Phi$ is injective.

Finally $\dim {\mathfrak{sp}}_4=2(2\cdot 2+1)=10$ and $\dim \mathfrak{so}(W,B)=5\cdot 4/2=10$. Injectivity between these equal-dimensional vector spaces gives surjectivity. Every nondegenerate complex symmetric bilinear form on a five-dimensional space is equivalent to the standard one. We have therefore constructed the exceptional isomorphism between sp4 and so5:

Replace the determinant condition by preservation of a nondegenerate alternating bilinear form $B$ on $F^{2m}$. In a symplectic basis the symplectic group over a finite field isTo count symplectic bases, choose the first vector $e$ in $q^{2m}-1$ ways, then choose $f$ with $B(e,f)=1$ in $q^{2m-1}$ ways. Their span is nondegenerate; its symplectic orthogonal complement has dimension $2m-2$ and supplies the rest of the basis. The resulting recurrence gives the finite symplectic group order

The elementary replacements are symplectic transvectionsExpanding $B(Tx,Ty)$ shows that the two cross terms cancel and the last term vanishes because $B(v,v)=0$. Thus these maps preserve $B$; their inverses are $T_{v,-c}$.

We need both generation and primitivity to use the argument from part (i). For nonzero vectors $v,w$ with $B(v,w)\ne 0$, the symplectic transvection with direction $w-v$ and parameter $1/B(v,w)$ sends $v$ to $w$. When $B(v,w)=0$, choose $z$ nonorthogonal to both and use two such steps. Such $z$ exists because two proper hyperplanes cannot cover a vector space: if the two linear forms are independent prescribe both values to be one, and if dependent prescribe either a nonzero value. Hence symplectic transvections act transitively on nonzero vectors.

They generate the whole symplectic group over a finite field. Indeed first use them to make a given symplectic transformation fix $e_1$. Its image $f^{\prime }$ of $f_1$ still satisfies $B(e_1,f^{\prime })=1$. A symplectic transvection with direction $f_1-f^{\prime }$ fixes $e_1$ and sends $f^{\prime }$ to $f_1$ if the pairing is nonzero. If that pairing is zero, pass through $f^{\prime }+c{e}_1$ for any $c\ne 0$: it has nonzero pairing with both partners, and both required directions lie in $e_1^{\perp }$. We have now fixed the first hyperbolic pair, and induction applies in its nondegenerate orthogonal complement. The final two-dimensional case is exactly the elementary generation of $S{L}_2(q)=S{p}_2(q)$ proved in part (i).

For a fixed projective point $⟨e⟩$, the symplectic transvections $T_{e,c}$ form an abelian subgroup normal in its stabilizer subgroup; conjugation scales $c$ by the square of the scalar multiplying $e$. Their conjugates supply all symplectic transvections. A central element commutes with every symplectic transvection, so it preserves every direction line and must be scalar. Conversely scalars commute with the whole group. The kernel of the projective action consists of scalar matrices, and preservation of $B$ restricts the scalar to ${\lambda }^2=1$. Thus the center of a group has size $\gcd (2,q-1)$ and the projective symplectic group over a finite field acts faithfully.

For $m\ge 2$ the stabilizer subgroup has precisely three orbits: its fixed point, the other points in $e^{\perp }$, and the points outside $e^{\perp }$. Transitivity on each follows by extending, respectively, an independent isotropic pair or a hyperbolic pair to a symplectic basis. WriteA nontrivial proper block through the fixed point would be a union of these stabilizer subgroup orbits, hence would have size either $h$ or $q^{2m-1}+1$. A block size divides $N$. But $N-qh=1$, so $h>1$ cannot divide $N$, and $N/2<q^{2m-1}+1<N$, excluding the other size. This proves primitivity. For $m=1$ the projective action is the two-transitive action of $PS{L}_2(q)$.

Here is a direct check of perfectness of finite symplectic groups, including the small fields where the diagonal group commutator needs replacement. If $q>3$, every symplectic transvection lies in an embedded $S{L}_2(q)$ on a hyperbolic plane containing its direction, and that subgroup is perfect by part (i). Since the symplectic transvections generate, the whole symplectic group over a finite field is perfect.

For $q=3$ and $m\ge 2$, all $T_{v,1}$ are conjugate, so their common image $z$ generates the abelianization and satisfies $3z=0$. Choose independent perpendicular vectors $e,f$. The four commuting symplectic transvections with directions $e,f,e+f,e-f$ and parameter one multiply to the identity: the sum of their rank-one matrices is zero in characteristic 3. Thus also $4z=0$, giving $z=0$.

For $q=2$ and $m\ge 3$, use the seven nonzero vectors of a three-dimensional isotropic subspace of a symplectic vector space. Their symplectic transvections commute, and their product is the identity. To see this explicitly, write a vector in three isotropic basis coordinates: in the sum of the outer products $v{v}^{\mathsf{T}}$ each diagonal coefficient occurs four times and each off-diagonal coefficient twice, all zero in characteristic 2. The common abelianization image $z$ therefore satisfies $2z=7z=0$. Again the group is perfect.

The simplicity argument from part (i) now applies to the projective symplectic group over a finite field. The remaining exceptional group besides $S{p}_2(2)$ and $PS{p}_2(3)$ is $S{p}_4(2)$. It is not simple: it is isomorphic to $S_6$. One can verify this identification without assuming it. On $F_2^4$ setThese are all 16 quadratic forms with polar form $B$; the Arf invariant of a quadratic form gives $\mathrm{Arf}(Q_a)=Q_0(a)$. There are six with invariant one. The symplectic group over a finite field permutes these six forms. Differences of their parameter vectors span $F_2^4$: writing $e_i,f_i$ for the symplectic basis, the six parameters areTheir pairwise differences include each of $e_1,e_2,f_1,f_2$. An element fixing all six forms therefore fixes all linear forms $B(a-b,-)$, hence is the identity. This gives a faithful action on six objects; the group order is 720, so its image is all of $S_6$. Consequently

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 $q^{m^2}$.

Taking diagonal blocks is a homomorphism $P\to L$. Its kernel is $Q$, and block-diagonal inclusion is a section. For any $g\in P$, remove its diagonal element $\ell \in L$ by $g{\ell }^{-1}\in Q$. Also $Q\cap L=1$. ThusUsing $|{\mathrm{GL}}_k(q)|=q^{k(k-1)/2}{\prod }_{i=1}^k(q^i-1)$ and part (a), the product simplifies toThe exponent simplification is $2k(m-k)+k(k+1)/2+k(k-1)/2+(m-k{)}^2=m^2$.

For an independent orbit-stabilizer theorem count, choose an ordered independent isotropic tuple $f_1,\dots ,f_k$. After $r$ choices, their span has $q^r$ elements and its orthogonal complement has dimension $2m-r$. The next choice therefore has $q^{2m-r}-q^r$ possibilities. The number of tuples isEvery totally isotropic $k$-space has $|{\mathrm{GL}}_k(q)|$ ordered bases, so the number of such spaces isEach tuple extends to a symplectic basis by successively choosing paired partners and taking orthogonal complements. Consequently the symplectic group is transitive on these spaces. The stabilizer subgroup of $W$ also preserves $W^{\perp }$, and so is exactly $P$. Dividing $|{\mathrm{Sp}}_{2m}(q)|$ by $N_k$ reproduces the boxed answer. Dividing by $T_k$ instead would count the pointwise stabilizer subgroup of the ordered tuple, a different subgroup.

The Symplectic Darboux theorem says that every point of a $2n$-dimensional symplectic manifold has local coordinates $(q^1,\dots ,q^n,p_1,\dots ,p_n)$ in whichFirst choose linear coordinates at the point so the form there is standard. The required symplectic basis can be constructed inductively: choose $e,f$ with $\omega (e,f)=1$, split off their span, and repeat on its nondegenerate symplectic orthogonal complement. Extend these coordinates to a chart centered at zero.

Let ${\omega }_0$ be the constant standard form in this chart and $\eta =\omega -{\omega }_0$. The closed form $\eta$ vanishes at zero. On a small star-shaped ball the radial Poincaré lemma supplies a primitiveSince ${\eta }_0=0$, this primitive is $O(|x{|}^2)$. The interpolating forms ${\omega }_t={\omega }_0+t\eta$ are nondegenerate on a common smaller ball, because they all agree with ${\omega }_0$ at zero and $t$ ranges over a compact interval.

Apply the local version of Moser's trick: solve ${\iota }_{X_t}{\omega }_t=-\alpha$. The vector fields are $O(|x{|}^2)$ and fix zero. On a sufficiently small ball their flows exist for $0\le t\le 1$ and remain inside the coordinate chart; the quadratic bound makes their displacement smaller than the available margin. The same pullback calculation gives $f_1^{\ast }\omega ={\omega }_0$. Thus $f_1$ is a local symplectomorphism from the standard ball into $M$, and its inverse supplies the desired Darboux chart. There are no local symplectic invariants beyond dimension.

In the defining representation of the symplectic Lie algebra ${\mathfrak{sp}}_4$, the weights are ${\epsilon }_1,{\epsilon }_2,-{\epsilon }_1,-{\epsilon }_2$. Their highest weight, for the root basis of part (b), is thereforeThe flip on the tensor square commutes with the action of ${\mathfrak{sp}}_4$, giving $V\otimes V={\mathrm{Sym}}^{2}V\oplus {\Lambda }^{2}V$ with dimensions $10$ and $6$.

If $v_1$ is a highest-weight vector of weight ${\epsilon }_1$, then $v_1\otimes v_1$ is a highest-weight vector of weight $2{\omega }_1$ in the symmetric square. By Weyl complete reducibility theorem, this ensures an irreducible summand $V(2{\omega }_1)$ occurs. Its dimension is $10$ by part (b), exhausting the symmetric square.

Let $\omega$ denote the preserved symplectic form. The symplectic contraction of an exterior square is the nonzero equivariant mapwhere the target is a trivial Lie algebra representation. Thus its kernel has dimension $5$. Choose a weight vector $v_2$ of weight ${\epsilon }_2$ in a symplectic basis, with $\omega (v_1,v_2)=0$. The vector $v_1\wedge v_2$ belongs to this kernel and has weight ${\epsilon }_1+{\epsilon }_2={\omega }_2$. It is a highest-weight vector: none of ${\omega }_2+\alpha$, for $\alpha \in {\Phi }^{+}$, is a weight of ${\Lambda }^{2}V$, whose weights are $\pm {\epsilon }_1\pm {\epsilon }_2$ and zero. Hence the kernel contains $V({\omega }_2)$; its dimension $5$ exhausts the kernel. Weyl complete reducibility theorem supplies a complementary invariant line $V(0)$.

The resulting tensor-square decomposition of the defining sp4 representation is

Embed the space $\mathcal{B}$ of complete isotropic flags intoThe incidence conditions $F_i\subset F_{i+1}$ and isotropy equations $⟨F_i,F_i⟩=0$ are closed polynomial conditions. Since the Grassmannian is projective, $\mathcal{B}$ is a projective algebraic variety.

Every complete isotropic flag extends to a symplectic basis. A symplectic change of basis carries any such flag to any other, so $G={\mathrm{Sp}}_{2n}$ acts transitively. The stabilizer $B$ of the standard flag consists of the upper triangular symplectic matrices. It is closed, connected, and solvable. The Lie-Kolchin theorem shows that every connected solvable subgroup fixes a complete flag in $V$; preservation of the symplectic form makes the resulting flag isotropic after taking its first half. Such a subgroup is conjugate into $B$, so $B$ is maximal and hence a Borel subgroup.

After ordering a symplectic basis in two blocks, writeMatrices in the symplectic Lie algebra have block formThe root-space decomposition isFor example, these one-dimensional spaces are spanned respectively byThus this is the Cn root systemThe upper-triangular choice givesIts simple roots, highest root, fundamental weights, and half-sum of positive roots are

Using the notation requested in the paper, the root lattice $P$ and weight lattice $Q$ areso $Q/P\cong \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$. This reverses the common notation in which the root lattice is called $Q$ and the weight lattice is called $P$.

Since a multiple-edge arrow in a Dynkin diagram points toward the shorter root, the finite and extended diagrams areand

For a compact Riemann surface with a symplectic basis $a_i,b_i$ of its first homology group, cutting along that basis and integrating a primitive givesfor closed smooth one-forms. For a holomorphic differential form $\omega$ and a differential of the third kind $\eta$, the corresponding boundary calculation givesThe paths and representatives of the cycles are chosen in the same cut surface. Normalized holomorphic differential forms consequently have a symmetric period matrix with positive definite imaginary part.

A symplectic basis organizes a nondegenerate alternating bilinear form into independent pairs. Let $(V,\omega )$ be a finite-dimensional vector space over a field $K$, with $\omega$ a nondegenerate bilinear form satisfying $\omega (v,v)=0$ for every vector $v$. Its dimension is even, say $2n$, and a symplectic basis is an ordered basis $\mathcal{B}=(e_1,\dots ,e_n,f_1,\dots ,f_n)$ such thatHere ${\delta }_{ij}$ is the Kronecker delta. Each $(e_i,f_i)$ is a hyperbolic pair; different pairs have zero mutual pairing. These conventions apply in every characteristic. In characteristic two, $-1=1$, but the condition $\omega (v,v)=0$ is still essential: a symmetric bilinear form need not be an alternating bilinear form. The existence theorem and the characteristic caveat are given in Bilinear Forms by Keith Conrad (Keith Conrad, Bilinear Forms, §1, Theorem 1.6; §5, Theorems 5.1 and 5.4 and Definition 5.3).

The benefit is a common coordinate language for every symplectic vector space of the same finite dimension over the same field. The span of all $e_i$, and separately of all $f_i$, is a Lagrangian subspace; each paired span is a symplectic subspace. In Hamiltonian mechanics, the corresponding pairing of position and momentum coordinates describes phase space and canonical transformations. On a symplectic manifold, a symplectic basis describes one tangent space; Darboux coordinates additionally describe a whole local neighborhood.^[ref]

Vertices are Lagrangian subspaces of a $2m$-dimensional symplectic vector space, joined when they intersect in codimension one. A pair with intersection dimension $m-r$ admits a symplectic basis in which $U=⟨e_1,\dots ,e_m⟩$ and $W=⟨f_1,\dots ,f_r,e_{r+1},\dots ,e_m⟩$. Replacing $e_i$ successively by $f_i$ gives an isotropic path of length $r$, while one edge can increase intersection dimension with a fixed target by at most one. Equal-distance ordered pairs have the same adapted form, so the symplectic group acts distance-transitively.