On the fundamental group of the space of harmonic 2-spheres in the \(n\)- sphere (Q1323463): Difference between revisions
From MaRDI portal
Changed an Item |
Set profile property. |
||
Property / MaRDI profile type | |||
Property / MaRDI profile type: MaRDI publication profile / rank | |||
Normal rank |
Revision as of 03:57, 5 March 2024
scientific article
Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
---|---|---|---|
English | On the fundamental group of the space of harmonic 2-spheres in the \(n\)- sphere |
scientific article |
Statements
On the fundamental group of the space of harmonic 2-spheres in the \(n\)- sphere (English)
0 references
28 February 1995
0 references
The authors consider the space \(\text{Harm}(S^ 2, S^ n)\) of harmonic maps \(\phi: S^ 2 \to S^ n\). Using the description of such maps in terms of holomorphic data, namely Calabi's description of harmonic maps in terms of horizontal holomorphic maps into the appropriate twistor space, and applying the method of group actions and Morse-theoretic deformations of harmonic maps, they compute the fundamental group of the space of harmonic maps, obtaining the following result for the subspace \(\text{Harm}_ d (S^ 2,S^ n)\) of maps of degree \(d\): \[ \pi_ 1(\text{Harm}_ d(S^ 2, S^ n)) = \begin{cases} 0 & \text{if \(n \geq 4\), \(d \neq 2\)}\\ \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z} & \text{if \(n \geq 4\), \(d = 2\)}\\ \mathbb{Z}/2d\mathbb{Z} & \text{if \(n = 3\)} \end{cases}. \]
0 references
harmonic maps
0 references
twistor space
0 references