Log24

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Symplectic Structure*

Filed under: General,Geometry — Tags: — m759 @ 1:00 pm

From Gotay and Isenberg, "The Symplectization of Science,"
Gazette des Mathématiciens  54, 59-79 (1992):

"… what is the origin of the unusual name 'symplectic'? ….
Its mathematical usage is due to Hermann Weyl who,
in an effort to avoid a certain semantic confusion, renamed
the then obscure 'line complex group' the 'symplectic group.'
… the adjective 'symplectic' means 'plaited together' or 'woven.'
This is wonderfully apt…."

IMAGE- A symplectic structure -- i.e. a structure that is symplectic (meaning plaited or woven)

The above symplectic  structure** now appears in the figure
illustrating the diamond-theorem correlation in the webpage
Rosenhain and Göpel Tetrads in PG(3,2).

Some related passages from the literature:

http://www.log24.com/log/pix10B/100915-SteinbergOnChevalleyGroups.jpg

* The title is a deliberate abuse of language .
For the real definition of "symplectic structure," see (for instance)
"Symplectic Geometry," by Ana Cannas da Silva (article written for
Handbook of Differential Geometry, vol 2.) To establish that the
above figure is indeed symplectic , see the post Zero System of
July 31, 2014.

** See Steven H. Cullinane, Inscapes III, 1986

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