Can one define a preferred symplectic connection? (Q1305688)

On a symplectic manifold \((M,\omega)\) a linear connection \(\nabla\) is called symplectic, if it is torsion-free and satisfies \(\nabla\omega=0\). Unfortunately, there is no canonical condition to make a symplectic connection unique as one has for the Levi-Civita connection in Riemannian geometry. In order to study the geometry of the underlying symplectic manifold, it is worth to be able to single out a preferred symplectic connection. It is the aim of this paper to introduce a variational principle for symplectic connections. The Lagrangian functional under consideration is given by \(\int_M{\mathcal R}^2dvol(M)\), where \(\mathcal R\) is the symplectic curvature tensor of \(\nabla\). If \(r\) denotes the Ricci tensor of \(\nabla\), then the corresponding field equations are \((\nabla_Xr)(Y,Z)+(\nabla_Yr)(Z,X)+(\nabla_Zr)(X,Y)=0\) for all vector fields \(X\), \(Y\), and \(Z\). The case that the underlying symplectic manifold is a compact surface is discussed in more detail.