Virasoro algebra, Dedekind \(\eta\)-function, and specialized Macdonald identities (Q1882513)

In the early seventies, some beautiful identities associated to affine root systems were discovered by I. G. Macdonald. These were later interpreted as \textit{denominator formulas} for Kac-Moody Lie algebras. Several specializations of these identities led to \(q\)-series identities. The present paper obtains some specialized identities by using the representation theory of the Virasoro algebra. One special case gives Euler's pentagonal number theorem.