Let $(\mathbb{CP}^1, j, g_{\text{FS}})$ be the complex projective line with the standard complex structure and the Fubini-Study metric and let $(M,J,\omega,g)$ be an almost Kähler compact manifold ($\omega$ is closed, $J$ is not neccesarily integrable). Using energy estimates, it can be shown that there is a constant $\hbar > 0$ that depends on $J$ and $g$ (and $\omega$) such that any non-constant $J$-holomorphic sphere $u : \mathbb{CP}^1 \rightarrow M$ satisfies $$ E(u) = \int_{\mathbb{CP}^1} |du|^2 \mathrm{dvol}_{\text{FS}} \geq \hbar. $$
That is, a non-constant $J$-holomorphic sphere must have an energy of at least $\hbar$. A more elaborate analysis can show that the set of possible "energy levels" $$ \{ E(u) \}_{u \; \text{is } J-\text{holomorphic}} $$ is a discrete set. This phenomenon also occurs for two-dimensional harmonic maps and presumably in other settings which I'm less familiar with.
Now, this smells in some sense like a "quantization". Smooth spheres $u: \mathbb{CP}^1 \rightarrow M$ are much less rigid with respect to energy - we can pertube them a little, changing the energy a little. However, once we impose some conditions on the maps (being $J$-holomorphic, harmonic), we get a discrete "spectrum", finite dimensional moduli spaces, etc.
Is there any physical interpretation behind this phenomenon? Any hueristic that explains intuitively why this should happen (maybe as some sort of a "quantization")? Is there a theory in which the set of possible energy levels have some physical meaning, analogous to the a spectrum of some self-adjoint operator in quantum mechanics? Can one think of the set of possible energy levels as the "spectrum" of the non-linear $\bar{\partial}_J$ and learn interesting things on the (almost complex) geometry of $M$ from it?
