Harmonic maps and constant mean curvature surfaces in H² times R

We introduce a hyperbolic Gauss map into the Poincare disk for any surface in H^2xR with regular vertical projection, and prove that if the surface has constant mean curvature H=1/2, this hyperbolic Gauss map is harmonic. Conversely, we show that every nowhere holomorphic harmonic map from an open simply connected Riemann surface into the Poincare disk is the hyperbolic Gauss map of a two-parameter family of such surfaces. As an application we obtain that any holomorphic quadratic differential on the surface can be realized as the Abresch-Rosenberg holomorphic differential of some, and generically infinitely many, complete surfaces with H=1/2 in H^2xR. A similar result applies to minimal surfaces in the Heisenberg group Nil_3. Finally, we classify all complete minimal vertical graphs in H^2xR.