Topology of character varieties and representations of quivers

In arXiv:0810.2076 we presented a conjecture generalizing the Cauchy formula for Macdonald polynomials. This conjecture encodes the mixed Hodge polynomials of the representation varieties of Riemann surfaces with semi-simple conjugacy classes at the punctures. We proved several results which support this conjecture. Here we announce new results which are consequences of those of arXiv:0810.2076.