Essential Signatures and Canonical Bases for Irreducible Representations of $D_4$

In the representation theory of simple Lie algebras, we consider the problem of constructing a “canonical” weight basis in an arbitrary irreducible finite-dimensional highest weight module. Vinberg suggested a method for constructing such bases by applying the lowering operators corresponding to all positive roots to the highest weight vector. He proposed several conjectures on the parametrization and structure of such bases. It is already known that these conjectures are true for the cases $A_n$, $C_n$, $G_2$, $B_3$. In this paper, we prove these conjectures for the Lie algebra of type $D_4$.