Harmonic maps and integrable systems

Publication date 20 December 2013

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1211.3101

2-torus harmonic map Jacobian Lax pair periodicity spectral curve

Relationships between algebraic curves and integrable systems (14H70) Completely integrable finite-dimensional Hamiltonian systems, integration methods, integrability tests (37J35) Differential geometric aspects of harmonic maps (53C43)

Abstract: This article has two purposes. The first is to give an expository account of the integrable systems approach to harmonic maps from surfaces to Lie groups and symmetric spaces, focusing on spectral curves for harmonic 2-tori. The most unwieldy aspect of the spectral curve description is the periodicity conditions and the second aim is to present four different forms for these periodicity conditions and explain their equivalence.

Review text

Harmonic maps from a Riemann surface \(\Sigma\) to a Lie group \(G\) or a symmetric space \(G/K\) can be expressed in terms of a loop of flat connections in a principal \(G\)-bundle over the surface \(\Sigma\). For the 2-torus the description of harmonic maps was achieved through the construction of an algebraic curve \(X\), called the spectral curve, together with a line bundle over it and some other algebraic data. The induced linear flow on a sub-torus in the Jacobian of \(X\) relates harmonic maps with algebraic integrable Hamiltonian systems. The paper focusses on the discussion of various forms of periodicity conditions arising in relation to constructing the harmonic maps. A great deal of the background material is reviewed. A relation to the construction of harmonic maps via polynomial Killing fields and multiplier curve is drawn.NEWLINENEWLINEFor the entire collection see [Zbl 1272.57002].

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