In mathematics, a symplectic matrix is a 2n×2n matrix M (whose entries are typically either real or complex) satisfying the condition

M^TΩM = Ω.

where M^T denotes the transpose of M and Ω is the 2n×2n skew-symmetric matrix

Here I_n is the n×n identity matrix. Note that Ω has determinant +1 and squares to minus the identity: Ω² = −I_2n.

N.B. Some authors prefer to use a different Ω for the definition of symplectic matrices. The only essential property is that Ω be a nonsingular, skew-symmetric matrix. The most common alternative is the block diagonal form

Note that this differs from the previous choice by a permutation of basis vectors. In fact, any choice of Ω can be brought to either of the above forms by a different choice of basis. See the abstract formulation below in the section on symplectic transformations.

Properties

Every symplectic matrix has an inverse which is given by

M ^{- 1} = Ω ^{- 1}M^TΩ

Furthermore, the product of two symplectic matrices is, again, a symplectic matrix. This gives the set of all symplectic matrices the structure of a group. There exists a natural manifold structure on this group which makes it into a (real or complex) Lie group called the symplectic group. The symplectic group has dimension n(2n + 1).

It follows easily from the definition that the determinant of any symplectic matrix is ±1. Actually, it turns out that the determinant is always +1. One way to see this is through the use of the Pfaffian and the identity

Pf(M^TΩM) = det(M)Pf(Ω).

Since M^TΩM = Ω and we have that det(M) = 1.

Let M be a 2n×2n block matrix given by

where A, B, C, D are n&timesn matrices. Then the condition for M to be symplectic is equivalent to the conditions

A^TD - C^TB = 1

A^TC = C^TA

D^TB = B^TD.

When n = 1 these conditions reduce to the single condition det(M) = 1. Thus a 2×2 matrix is symplectic iff it has unit determinant.

Symplectic transformations

In the abstract formulation of linear algebra, matrices are replaced with linear transformations of finite-dimensional vector spaces. The abstract analog of a symplectic matrix is a symplectic transformation of a symplectic vector space. Briefly, a symplectic vector space is a 2n-dimensional vector space V equipped with a nondegenerate, skew-symmetric bilinear form ω.

A symplectic transformation is then a linear transformation f : V → V which preserves ω, i.e.

ω(f(x),f(y)) = ω(x,y).

Fixing a basis for V, ω can be written as a matrix Ω and f as a matrix M. The condition that f be a symplectic transformation is precisely the condition that M be a symplectic matrix:

M^TΩM = Ω.

Under a change of basis, represented by a matrix A, we have

One can always bring Ω to either of the standard forms given in the introduction by a suitable choice of A.

Related topics

• symplectic vector space
• symplectic group
• symplectic representation
• orthogonal matrix
• unitary matrix
• Hamiltonian mechanics