Introduction to the symplectic group Sp(2)

Abstract

In this article, we derive and discuss the properties of the symplectic group Sp(2), which arises in Hamiltonian dynamics and ray optics. We show that a symplectic matrix can be written as the product of a symmetric dilation matrix and a rotation matrix, in either order. A symplectic matrix can be written as the exponential of a generating matrix, and there is a one-to-one relation between the coefficients of the symplectic and generating matrices. We also discuss the adjoint and Schmidt decompositions of a symplectic matrix, and the product of two symplectic matrices. The results of this article have applications in many subfields of physics.