Harmonic maps, Backlund-Darboux transformations and "line soliton" analogs

Abstract

Harmonic maps from $\BR^2$ or one-connected domain ${\O}\subset \BR^2$ into $GL(m, \BC)$ and $U(m)$ are treated. The GBDT version of the B\"acklund-Darboux transformation is applied to the case of the harmonic maps. A new general formula on the GBDT transformations of the Sym-Tafel immersions is derived. A class of the harmonic maps similar in certain ways to line-solitons is obtained explicitly and studied.