Non-degeneracy and quantitative stability of half-harmonic maps from ${\mathbb R}$ to ${\mathbb S}$

We consider half-harmonic maps from $\mathbb{R}$ (or $\mathbb{S}$) to $\mathbb{S}$. We prove that all (finite energy) half-harmonic maps are non-degenerate. In other words, they are integrable critical points of the energy functional. A full description of the kernel of the linearized operator around each half-harmonic map is given. The second part of this paper devotes to studying the quantitative stability of half-harmonic maps. When its degree is $\pm 1$, we prove that the deviation of any ma...