On the Determinant of Symplectic Matrices
D. Steven Mackey, Niloufer Mackey · 2003
A collection of new and old proofs showing that the determinant of any symplectic matrix is +1 is presented. Structured factorizations of symplectic matrices play a key role in several arguments. A constructive derivation of the symplectic analogue of the Cartan-Dieudonne theorem is one of the new proofs in this essay.