• 1 Max Planck Institute for Mathematics

We prove a closed character formula for the symmetric powers $S^N V(λ )$ of a fixed irreducible representation $V(λ )$ of a complex semi-simple Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ by means of partial fraction decomposition. The formula involves rational functions in rank of $\mathfrak{g}$ many variables which are easier to determine than the weight multiplicities of $S^N V(λ )$ themselves. We compute those rational functions in some interesting cases. Furthermore, we introduce a residue-type generating function for the weight multiplicities of $S^N V(λ )$ and explain the connections between our character formula, vector partition functions and iterated partial fraction decomposition.