A Quasi Curtis-Tits-Phan theorem for the symplectic group

Abstract

We obtain the symplectic group as an amalgam of low rank subgroups akin to Levi components. We do this by having the group act flag-transitively on a new type of geometry and applying Tits' lemma. This provides a new way of recognizing the symplectic groups from a small collection of small subgroups. The geometry consists of all subspaces of maximal rank in a vector space of maximal rank with respect to a symplectic form. The main result holds for fields of size at least 3. We analyze the geometry over the field of size 2 and describe its simply connected cover if different from the geometry.