Group actions and deformations for harmonic maps (Q1322333)

In this paper the actions of certain infinite dimensional Lie groups on harmonic maps from a simply connected Riemann surface, especially a Riemann sphere, into a compact Lie group or a symmetric space are investigated. We show how the action of infinite dimensional Lie groups can be interpreted in terms of a Grassmannian model in loop group theory, and study their geometric nature. As an important application we can discuss deformations of harmonic maps under the group action from the viewpoint of Morse-Bott theory. Using this idea, we prove results on connectedness of spaces of harmonic 2-spheres in \(S^ n\), \(\mathbb{C} P^ n\) and \(U(n)\), and their generalizations.