The Kostant partition function counts nonnegative integer combinations of the positive roots of a root system, without ordering the summands. Multiply the formal geometric series for every positive root. The coefficient of counts precisely these combinations. Every coefficient is finite because a linear functional strictly positive on the positive roots bounds every participating integer coefficient. The sign of each exponent in the cancelling product must agree with that of this series.
The printed identity has a sign error. With the defined Kostant partition function and the exponent , the cancelling factors must be . This is already visible for with positive root : the formal series multiplied by is , not .
For the corrected formula, a partition of is a tuple of nonnegative integers satisfying . The order of summands is not counted. Multiplying the formal geometric series yields
This product is coefficientwise meaningful. Choose a linear functional strictly positive on every positive root. For a fixed it bounds each , so only finitely many tuples contribute. We are working in the completion supported on the negative positive-root cone, not claiming convergence of an ordinary Fourier series on the torus.
Each geometric series cancels its factor , proving
Equivalently, reversing all the exponential signs gives in the opposite completion. More generally, if is the number of positive roots, the expression literally printed in the paper equals
since . Thus the correction is substantive, not merely a choice of Fourier convention.
The Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt theorem shows that the weights of the Verma module are
with multiplicities given by the corresponding Kostant partition function.
The Dynkin labels of are . Hence the two simple-root singular vectors are , of weight , and , of weight . They generate the Maximal proper submodule of a dominant integral Verma module. Its set of weights is consequently