Kostka-Foulkes polynomials for symmetrizable Kac-Moody algebras

Abstract

We introduce a generalization of the classical Hall-Littlewood and Kostka-Foulkes polynomials to all symmetrizable Kac-Moody algebras. We prove that these Kostka-Foulkes polynomials coincide with the natural generalization of Lusztig's $t$-analog of weight multiplicities, thereby extending a theorem of Kato. For $g$ an affine Kac-Moody algebra, we define $t$-analogs of string functions and use Cherednik's constant term identities to derive explicit product expressions for them.