The spectrum of chiral operators in supersymmetric quiver gauge theories is typically much larger in the free limit, where the superpotential terms vanish. We find that the finite N counting of operators in any free quiver theory, with a product of unitary gauge groups, can be described by associating Young diagrams and Littlewood-Richardson multiplicities to a simple modification of the quiver, which we call the split-node quiver. The large N limit leads to a surprisingly simple infinite product formula for counting gauge invariant operators, valid for any quiver with bifundamental fields. An orthogonal basis for the operators, in the finite N CFT inner product, is given in terms of quiver characters. These are constructed by inserting permutations in the split-node quivers and interpreting the resulting diagrams in terms of symmetric group matrix elements and branching coefficients. The fusion coefficients in the chiral ring - valid both in the UV and in the IR - are computed at finite N. The derivation follows simple diagrammatic moves on the quiver. The large N counting and correlators are expressed in terms of topological field theories on Riemann surfaces obtained by thickening the quiver. The TFTs are based on symmetric groups and defect observables associated with subgroups play an important role. We outline the application of the free field results to the construction of BPS operators in the case of non-zero super-potential.
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