  We consider the energy-critical half-wave maps equation $$\partial_t
\mathbf{u} + \mathbf{u} \wedge |\nabla| \mathbf{u} = 0$$ 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 M\"obius
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.
