Classical solutions for the 4-dimensional σ-nonlinear model

By interpreting the σ-nonlinear model as describing the Gauss map associated to a certain immersion, several classes of classical solutions for the 4-dimensional model are derived. As by-products one points out i) an intimate connection between the energy-momentum tensor of the solution and the second differential form of the immersion associated to it and ii) a connection between self- (antiself-)duality of the solution and the minimality of the associated immersion. (author)