Integrable systems on $Fl_n \times Fl_n \times Fl_n //SU(n)$ and $SU(n)$ tensor product multiplicities

Abstract

We construct a densely defined torus action on the symplectic quotient of the product of three complete flag varieties. The closure of the image of the corresponding moment map is a convex polytope. The dimension of the geometric quantization of this space gives the structure constants of the representation ring of $SU(n)$, which we show is given by counting lattice points in the image of the moment map. Such lattice point formulas for the structure constants were given by Berenstein-Zelevinsky; our results show how such formulas arise geometrically as an example of `invariance of polarization', analogous to the description of the Gelfand-Cetlin polytopes by Guillemin-Sternberg. We outline applications to loop groups and to moduli spaces of vector bundles.