  A multi-shell generalization of a fermion representation of the q-deformed
compact symplectic sp_q(4) algebra is introduced. An analytic form for the
action of two or more generators of the Sp_q(4) symmetry on the basis states is
determined and the result used to derive formulae for the overlap between
number preserving states as well as for matrix elements of a model Hamiltonian.
A second-order operator in the generators of Sp_q(4) is identified that is
diagonal in the basis set and that reduces to the Casimir invariant of the
sp(4) algebra in the non-deformed limit of the theory. The results can be used
in nuclear structure applications to calculate beta-decay transition
probabilities and to provide for a description of pairing and higher-order
interactions in systems with nucleons occupying more than a single-j orbital.
