Ulteriori informazioni
This book brings together experts in the field to explain the ideas involved in the application of the theory of integrable systems to finding harmonic maps and related geometric objects. It had its genesis in a conference with the same title organised by the editors and held at Leeds in May 1992. However, it is not a conference proceedings, but rather a sequence of invited expositions by experts in the field which, we hope, together form a coherent account of the theory. The editors have added cross-references between articles and have written introductory articles in an effort to make the book self-contained. There are articles giving the points of view of both geometry and mathematical physics. Leeds, England A. P. Fordy October 1993 J. e. Wood Authors' addresses J. Bolton, Dept. of Math. Sciences, Univ. of Durham, South Road, Durham, DHI 3LE, UK A. I. Bobenko, FB Math. , Tecbnische Univ. , Strasse des 17. Juni. 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany M. Bordemann, Falc. fUr Physik, Albert-Ludwigs'Univ. , H. -Herder-Str. 3, 79104 Freiburg, Germany F. E. Burstall, Dept. of Mathematics, Univ. of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA 7 7 AY, UK A. P. Fordy, School of Mathematics, Univ. of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK M. Forger, Falc. fUr Physik, Albert-Ludwigs Univ. , H. -Herder-Str. 3, 79104 Freiburg, Germany M. A. Guest, Dept. of Mathematics, Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA P. Z. Kobalc, Math. Institute, Univ. of Oxford, 24-29 St.
Sommario
and background material.- Introduction,.- A historical introduction to solitons and Bäcklund tranformations,.- Harmonic maps into symmetric spaces and integrable systems,.- The geometry of surfaces.- The affine Toda equations and miminal surfaces,.- Surfaces in terms of 2 by 2 matrices: Old and new integrable cases,.- Integrable systems, harmonic maps and the classical theory of solitons,.- Sigma and chiral models.- The principal chiral model as an integrable system,.- 2-dimensional nonlinear sigma models: Zero curvature and Poisson structure,.- Sigma models in 2 + 1 dimensions,.- The algebraic approach.- Infinite dimensional Lie groups and the two-dimensional Toda lattice,.- Harmonic maps via Adler-Kostant-Symes theory,.- Loop group actions on harmonic maps and their applications,.- The twistor approach.- Twistors, nilpotent orbits and harmonic maps,.
