I'm computing the dimension of $\mathrm{Sp}(2n, \mathbb{R})$ and I've shown that its Lie algebra is $\mathfrak{sp}(2n, \mathbb{R})=\{X\in\mathrm{Mat}_{2n}(\mathbb{R})\mid XJ+JX^\mathrm{T}=0\}$, where $$J=\begin{pmatrix} 0&-I_n\\ I_n&0 \end{pmatrix}.\tag{1}$$ Now I try to find the form of the elements in $\mathfrak{sp}(2n, \mathbb{R})$, so let $$X=\begin{pmatrix} A&B\\ C&D \end{pmatrix},\tag{2}$$ where $A$, $B$, $C$, $D$ are all $n\times n$ matrices. It follows from some calculations that $$C=B\quad\text{and}\quad D=-A.\tag{3}$$ Then the form of the elements in $\mathfrak{sp}(2n, \mathbb{R})$ is as $$X=\begin{pmatrix} A&B\\ B&-A \end{pmatrix},\tag{4}$$ i.e., $X$ is determined by two matrices $A$ and $B$. Since both $A$ and $B$ are in $\mathrm{Mat}_n(\mathbb{R})$, the dimension of $\mathfrak{sp}(2n, \mathbb{R})$ equals $2n^2$. However, I know that fact $\dim \mathfrak{sp}(2n, \mathbb{R})=2n^2+n$, so where did my derivation go wrong?
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"It follows from some calculations that" - no, check this for $n=2$, for example. – Dietrich Burde Dec 10 '23 at 15:07
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As pointed out, your calculations from (2) to (3) are wrong. Cf. also https://math.stackexchange.com/a/3969786/96384. By the way, even your (3) would not lead to (4), but rather to $\pmatrix{A&B\B&-A}$ (which would still be wrong of course). – Torsten Schoeneberg Dec 10 '23 at 17:53
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1Thanks, I edited it. @Torsten Schoeneberg – 一団和気 Dec 11 '23 at 07:34