Continuous deformations of harmonic maps and their unitons (Q2332948)

For a given harmonic map \(\varphi:M\rightarrow U(n)\), where \(M\) is a Riemann surface and \(U(n)\) is the group of unitary matrices of order \(n\), an extended solution \(\Phi:S^1\times M\rightarrow U(n)\) is attached, with \(\Phi(-1,\cdot)=u\varphi\) for some constant \(u\in U(n)\). If \(\Phi\) is a trigonometric polynomial, then the extended solution is called algebraic. It is known that for the Riemann sphere \(M=S^2\) every harmonic map \(\varphi\) has an algebraic extended solution. Also the fact that \(\Phi\) has a Blaschke-Potapov factorization. The factors involved here are called unitons of \(\Phi\), and by \(\Phi(-1,\cdot)=u\varphi\) it follows a uniton factorization for \(\varphi\). A harmonic map \(\varphi\) which has an associated algebraic extended solution is said to have finite uniton number. It is known that an algebraic extended solution on \(S^2\) can be deformed into an \(S^1\)-invariant extended solution. This fact was obtained using an approach based on Morse theory and the Bruhat decomposition. In this paper this deformation is studied in detail using an approach based on operator theory instead of Morse theory. The main result of the paper (Theorem 1) has a lot of corollaries, between them is the relation to decomposition of Bruhat-type, using the commutant lifting theorem. Also it is shown that the corresponding unitons are real analytic functions of the deformation parameter.