G. E. Wall

The semisimple conjugacy classes in the symplectic groups

We determine the conjugacy classes of semisimple elements in the symplectic groups ${\rm Sp}(2m,F)$, where $F$ is an arbitrary field of characteristic not $2$. This note was originally a letter dated 23 March, 2006, from G.E. Wall to Cheryl E. Praeger, and has been reproduced with his kind permission.