Four-dimensional symplectic basis change 2026-10-14
On , use the standard basis and the alternating bilinear form with matrix above for . A second symplectic basis isFor instance, , while and the cross-pairings vanish. The change of basis matrix, whose columns are these new basis vectors in , isThe symmetric matrix makes , so is a symplectic matrix. Explicitly, multiplying the blocks gives a lower-right block ; the other blocks agree with . For a fixed vector, change of basis means , henceTheir symplectic form gives in , and in . The separate coordinate-plane contributions change, but their sum does not.
The same matrix also represents an active symplectic linear map: keeping one basis fixed, it sends to . The following diagram shows this active interpretation over the real numbers. Its preserved total pairing is precisely the test used for linear canonical transformations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 13 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be a connected compact Riemann surface of genus . Choose an oriented symplectic basis of , with . For a closed complex differential form , write and . The Riemann bilinear relations begin with the identityTo prove it, cut along the chosen cycles to obtain a fundamental polygon . On this simply connected polygon, a closed differential form has a primitive , with . Stokes theorem gives . The two copies of each edge have opposite orientations, and their values of differ by the period acquired in passing between them. Pairing the copies of the and edges gives, respectively, and . Summing proves the identity; the convention fixes its sign.
For holomorphic one-forms , their wedge product is zero because locally both are multiples of . Thus the first holomorphic Riemann bilinear relations isFor a nonzero holomorphic one-form , the second relation follows by applying the bilinear identity to :In particular, a holomorphic one-form with all -periods zero must vanish. Since , the map taking a holomorphic one-form to its -periods is an isomorphism. We can therefore choose normalized holomorphic one-forms with . Put . The first relation applied to gives , and the second applied to gives for . ConsequentlyThese conclusions make the construction of the Jacobian variety work. Integration identifies the image of in with the period lattice . The real-linear map is invertible: its imaginary part is , and is invertible. Hence is a discrete lattice of full real rank , andis a compact complex torus, rather than a non-Hausdorff quotient. Changing the symplectic basis changes the displayed coordinates but not this intrinsic quotient.
The Riemann bilinear relations also supply its polarization of a complex torus. Use the Hermitian form , linear in the first argument, and set . Symmetry of givesThus is an integral positive Riemann form on a complex torus. Its matrix on the displayed lattice basis is the unimodular symplectic matrix. The corresponding positive holomorphic line bundle, equivalently the one constructed from theta automorphy in Solution 4, gives a principal polarization of a complex torus. By the Kodaira embedding theorem this makes the complex torus projective, hence an abelian variety. The normalization here is important because was chosen linear in its first argument. If , the spaces of holomorphic one-forms and periods are zero and the Jacobian variety is a point.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ii Paper 3 9E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the Jacobian matrix and . The chain rule gives . Therefore the Hamilton equations transform to , with . They have the required canonical form for every Hamiltonian exactly whenNecessity follows by choosing Hamiltonians whose gradients take arbitrary values at a point; sufficiency follows from the displayed transformed equation. This is the symplectic matrix condition for a canonical transformation, and it also forces to be invertible.
For the given transformation, has determinant one. For any matrix, , so the proposed transformation is canonical.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 20 1 ii a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The Poisson bracket in the original coordinates isFor , setThen and . The pullback definition of a canonical transformation gives the pointwise matrix conditionSince is invertible, this is equivalent to . Indeed, invert and use to obtain , then multiply by and . Applying the same calculation to the inverse implication gives equivalence. These are the two equivalent symplectic matrix identities that connect the symplectic form with Poisson brackets.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 20 1 ii b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The chain rule yieldsIf is a canonical transformation, the symplectic matrix identity makes this expression . Thus preservation of the symplectic form implies preservation of every Poisson bracket, for all functions.
Conversely, assume this Poisson bracket identity for every . Take and , for arbitrary constant vectors . It gives . Since this holds for every , , hence . Therefore preservation of all Poisson brackets is equivalent to canonicity. Only first derivatives of enter this argument.
