We consider the energy-critical half-wave maps equation $$partial_t mathbf{u} + mathbf{u} wedge | abla| mathbf{u} = 0$$ for $mathbf{u} : [0,T) times mathbb{R} to mathbb{S}^2$. We give a complete classification of all traveling solitary waves with finite energy. The proof is based on a geometric characterization of these solutions as minimal surfaces with (not necessarily free) boundary on $mathbb{S}^2$. In particular, we discover an explicit Lorentz boost symmetry, which is implemented by the conformal Mobius group on the target $mathbb{S}^2$ applied to half-harmonic maps from $mathbb{R}$ to $mathbb{S}^2$. Complementing our classification result, we carry out a detailed analysis of the linearized operator $L$ around half-harmonic maps $mathbf{Q}$ with arbitrary degree $m geq 1$. Here we explicitly determine the nullspace including the zero-energy resonances; in particular, we prove the nondegeneracy of $mathbf{Q}$. Moreover, we give a full description of the spectrum of $L$ by finding all its $L^2$-eigenvalues and proving their simplicity. Furthermore, we prove a coercivity estimate for $L$ and we rule out embedded eigenvalues inside the essential spectrum. Our spectral analysis is based on a reformulation in terms of certain Jacobi operators (tridiagonal infinite matrices) obtained from a conformal transformation of the spectral problem posed on $mathbb{R}$ to the unit circle $mathbb{S}$. Finally, we construct a unitary map which can be seen as a gauge transform tailored for a future stability and blowup analysis close to half-harmonic maps. Our spectral results also have potential applications to the half-harmonic map heat flow, which is the parabolic counterpart of the half-wave maps equation.
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