Affine Kac-Moody algebras represent a well-trodden and well-understood littoral beyond which stretches the vast, chaotic, and poorly-understood ocean of indefinite Kac-Moody algebras. The simplest indefinite Kac-Moody algebras are the rank 2 Kac-Moody algebras (a) (a ≥ 3) with symmetric Cartan matrix , which form part of the class known as hyperbolic Kac-Moody algebras. In this paper, we probe deeply into the structure of those algebras (a), the e. coli of indefinite Kac-Moody algebras. Using Berman-Moody’s formula ([BM]), we derive a purely combinatorial closed form formula for the root multiplicities of the algebra (a), and illustrate some of the rich relationships that exist among root multiplicities, both within a single algebra and between different algebras in the class. We also give an explicit description of the root system of the algebra (a). As a by-product, we obtain a simple algorithm to find the integral points on certain hyperbolas.
A combinatorial approach to root multiplicities of rank 2 hyperbolic Kac–Moody algebras