A finite dimensional proof of the Verlinde formula (Q828627)

Given a smooth projective curve \(C\) of genus \(g\), it is an important question to know the dimension of \(\Gamma(\mathcal{U}_C,\Theta_{\mathcal{U}_C})\) of generalized theta functions on the moduli space \(\mathcal{U}_C\) of rank \(r\) and degree \(d\) semistable vector bundles on \(C\). For \(r=1\), it is classically known, using geometric methods, that \(\dim H^0(J_C^g,\Theta)=k^g\), where \(J_C^d\) it is the jacobian of degree \(d\) (namely, the moduli space of line bundles of degree \(d\) on \(C\)), and \(\Theta\) is the theta divisor of order \(k\). For \(r>1\), it was surprising that the answer came from theoretical physics, more concretely from conformal field theories, with the so-called Verlinde formula. Ever since this result was obtained, it became a challenge to obtain a proof of this formula within the realm of algebraic geometry. In the paper under review, the authors deal with the case of moduli spaces \(\mathcal{U}_{C,\omega}\) of semistable parabolic bundles with parabolic data \(\omega\), without relying on conformal blocks. Extending the results of many other mathematicians on the topic, they give two recursive formulas on the dimensions of \(\Gamma(\mathcal{U}_{C,\omega},\Theta_{\mathcal{U}_{C,\omega}})\) and obtain an explicit formula for them (Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.3).