Symmetric boundary values for the Dirichlet problem for harmonic maps from the disc into the 2-sphere

Let Aut(D) denote the group of biholomorphic diffeormorphisms from the unit disc D onto itself and O(3) the group of orthogonal transformations of the unit sphere S ². The existence of multiple solutions to the Dirichlet problem for harmonic maps from D into S ² is related to the symmetries (if any) of the boundary value γ : ∂D → S ², by invariance of the Dirichlet energy under the action of Aut(D) × O(3). In this paper, we classify the stabilizers in Aut(D) × O(3) of boundary values in H ^1/2(S ¹, S ²) and . We give two applications to the Dirichlet problem for harmonic maps. This work was partially supported by the CMLA, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, Cachan, France.