Surfaces associated with sigma models and the sine-Gordon equation

Abstract

We present a unified method of construction of surfaces associated with Grassmannian sigma models, expressed in terms of an orthogonal projector. This description leads to compact formulae for structural equations of two-dimensional surfaces immersed in the su(N) algebra. In the special case of the CP^1 sigma model we obtain constant negative Gaussian curvature surfaces. As a consequence, this leads us to an explicit relation between the CP^1 sigma model and the sine-Gordon equation.

36 pages, 10 figures