Harmonic spheres in outer symmetric spaces, their canonical elements and Weierstrass-type representations (Q512818)

There is a correspondence between harmonic maps \(\varphi\) from a Riemann surface \(M\) into a compact Lie group \(G\) and certain holomorphic maps \(\Phi\) into the bases loop group \(\Omega G\), the \textit{extended solutions}. And if an extended solution takes values in the group of algebraic loops \(\Omega_{\text{alg}}G\), the corresponding harmonic map is said to have \textit{finite uniton number}. \textit{F. E. Burstall} and \textit{M. A. Guest} [Math. Ann. 309, No. 4, 541--572 (1997; Zbl 0897.58012)] used a method suggested by Morse theory in order to describe harmonic maps with finite uniton number from \(M\) into a compact Lie group \(G\) with trivial center. The theory of Burstall and Guest on harmonic \(2\)-sphere (i.e. harmonic map from \(S^2\)) in compact inner \(G\)-space was extended by \textit{J. H. Eschenburg} et al. [Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 42, No. 6, 1121--1133 (2010; Zbl 1213.58013)] to outer symmetric spaces. In this paper, making use of \textit{S. Murakami}'s classification [Osaka J. Math. 2, 291--307 (1965; Zbl 0163.28101)] of outer involutions in a Lie group and following the Morse-theoretic approach to harmonic \(2\)-spheres in Lie groups introduced by Burstal and Guest, the authors obtain a new classification of harmonic \(2\)-spheres in outer symmetric spaces and a Weierstrass-type representation for such maps. The authors also give several examples of harmonic maps into classical symmetric spaces in terms of meromorphic functions on \(S^2\).