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The equivariant Verlinde formula on the moduli of Higgs bundles

We prove an analog of the Verlinde formula on the moduli space of semistable meromorphic G-Higgs bundles over a smooth curve for a reductive group G whose fundamental group is free. The formula expresses the graded dimension of the space of sections of a positive line bundle as a finite sum whose terms are indexed by formal solutions of a generalized Bethe ansatz equation on the maximal torus of G. In an appendix, Constantin Teleman proves a vanishing theorem for the higher cohomology of positive line bundles on the stack of Higgs bundles.