Kostant $\rho$-decomposition of homology I. Finite-dimensional representations

Abstract

We give explicit, uniform formulas for the graded characters and total ranks of the Lie algebra homology of finite-dimensional representations in all classical types. In many cases, these compute the Tor groups of finite length modules over polynomial rings, and this is the first in a series of papers to investigate total rank conjectures from this perspective. These formulas refine and generalize the classical $\rho$-decomposition of Kostant, and in particular we prove that the characters involved exhibit three structural phenomena: divisibility (by a large power of 2), equidistribution, and uniform factorization formulas.