Skip to main content
4 of 10
added 152 characters in body
André Henriques
  • 43.2k
  • 5
  • 130
  • 264

It turns out that it's easier to prove the following generalization:

Let $\mathfrak g$ be a simple Lie algebra (not necessarily simply laced), let $\omega$ be a fundamental weight whose Dynkin mark is 1, and let $k$ be any number. Then we have

$$ \frac{\langle k\omega,k\omega+2\rho\rangle}{2(h^\vee+k)} = \frac{k}{2}\|\omega\|^2. $$

(The original question is the case $k=1$)


Proof: We'll show that $$ \frac{\langle k\omega,k\omega+2\rho\rangle}{2(h^\vee+k)} = \frac{\| k\omega+\rho\|^2-\|\rho\|^2}{2(h^\vee+k)} = \frac{k\langle\omega,\rho\rangle}{h^\vee} = \frac{k}{2}\|\omega\|^2. $$

(1) The first equality is easy.
(2) Let $\mathcal A$ be the Weyl alcove. Recall that $\rho$ is the unique weight in the interior of $h^\vee \mathcal A$. The vertices $0$ and and $h^\vee\omega$ are in the same $Aut(\mathcal A)$-orbit, and are therefore equidistant to $\rho$. It follows that the numerator $\| k\omega+\rho\|^2-\|\rho\|^2$ vanishes when $k=-h^\vee$. The function $k\mapsto \frac{\| k\omega+\rho\|^2-\|\rho\|^2}{2(h^\vee+k)}$ is therefore linear. One easily computes that its derivative at zero is $\frac{\langle\omega,\rho\rangle}{h^\vee}$, and the second equality follows.
(3) For the third equality, one again uses the fact that $\frac \rho {h^\vee}$ is fixed by the action of $Aut(\mathcal A)$ on $\mathcal A$. Since $Aut(\mathcal A)$ contains elements that exchange $0$ and $\omega$, the point $\frac \rho {h^\vee}$ is on the bisecting hyperplane of the segment $[0,\omega]$. Therefore $\langle\omega,\frac\rho{h^\vee}\rangle=\langle\omega,\frac\omega2\rangle=\frac12\|\omega\|^2$.
QED

André Henriques
  • 43.2k
  • 5
  • 130
  • 264