  The quadratic nonlinear wave equation on a one-dimensional torus with small
initial values located in a single Fourier mode is considered. In this
situation, the formation of metastable energy strata has recently been
described and their long-time stability has been shown. The topic of the
present paper is the correct reproduction of these metastable energy strata by
a numerical method. For symplectic trigonometric integrators applied to the
equation, it is shown that these energy strata are reproduced even on long time
intervals in a qualitatively correct way.
