Related papers: An algebraic characterization of expanding Thursto…

In this paper, we prove that an expanding Thurston map $f\colon S^2 \rightarrow S^2$ is asymptotically $h$-expansive if and only if it has no periodic critical points, and that no expanding Thurston map is $h$-expansive. As a consequence,…

Thurston maps are branched self-coverings of the sphere whose critical points have finite forward orbits. We give combinatorial and algebraic characterizations of Thurston maps that are isotopic to expanding maps as "Levy-free" maps and as…

We study the dynamics of Thurston maps under iteration. These are branched covering maps $f$ of 2-spheres $S^2$ with a finite set $\mathop{post}(f)$ of postcritical points. We also assume that the maps are expanding in a suitable sense.…

We consider Thurston maps, i.e., branched covering maps $f\colon S^2\to S^2$ that are postcritically finite. In addition, we assume that $f$ is expanding in a suitable sense. It is shown that each sufficiently high iterate $F=f^n$ of $f$ is…

A Thurston map is a branched covering map $f\colon S^2\to S^2$ that is postcritically finite. Mating of polynomials, introduced by Douady and Hubbard, is a method to geometrically combine the Julia sets of two polynomials (and their…

Using Thurston's characterization of postcritically finite rational functions as branched coverings of the sphere to itself, we give a new method of constructing new conformal dynamical systems out of old ones. Let $f(z)$ be a rational map…

A Thurston map is a branched covering map from $\S^2$ to $\S^2$ with a finite postcritical set. We associate a natural Gromov hyperbolic graph $\G=\G(f,\mathcal C)$ with an expanding Thurston map $f$ and a Jordan curve $\mathcal C$ on…

In this paper, we prove that a postcritically finite rational map with non-empty Fatou set is Thurstion equivalent to an expanding Thurston map if and only if its Julia set is homeomorphic to the standard Sierpinski carpet

We study canonical decompositions of postcritically finite branched coverings of the 2-sphere, as defined by K. Pilgrim. We show that every hyperbolic cycle in the decomposition does not have a Thurston obstruction. It is thus Thurston…

In 1980s, Thurston established a topological characterization theorem for postcritically finite rational maps. In this paper, a decomposition theorem for a class of postcritically infinite branched covering termed `Herman map' is developed.…

We study canonical decompositions of postcritically finite branched coverings of the 2-sphere, as defined by K.~Pilgrim. We show that every hyperbolic cycle in the decomposition does not have a Thurston obstruction. It is thus Thurston…

Among Thurston maps (orientation-preserving, postcritically finite branched coverings of the 2-sphere to itself), those that arise as subdivision maps of a finite subdivision rule form a special family. For such maps, we investigate…

We obtain an analog of the prime number theorem for a class of branched covering maps on the $2$-sphere $S^2$ called expanding Thurston maps, which are topological models of some non-uniformly expanding rational maps without any smoothness…

We investigate the family of marked Thurston maps that are defined everywhere on the topological sphere $S^2$, potentially excluding at most countable closed set of essential singularities. We show that when an unmarked Thurston map $f$ is…

In the early 1980's Thurston gave a topological characterization of rational maps whose critical points have finite iterated orbits (\cite{Th,DH1}): given a topological branched covering $F$ of the two sphere with finite critical orbits, if…

We consider postcritically finite rational maps $f\colon \widehat{\mathbb{C}} \to \widehat{\mathbb{C}}$ whose Julia set is the whole Riemann sphere $\widehat{\mathbb{C}}$. We call such a map an expanding rational Thurston map. Identifying…

In this paper, we show that each expanding Thurston map $f : S^2\rightarrow S^2$ has $1+ deg f$ fixed points, counted with appropriate weight, where $ deg f$ denotes the topological degree of the map $f$. We then prove the equidistribution…

In the second paper [LZ24b] of this series, we obtained an analog of the prime number theorem for a class of branched covering maps on the $2$-sphere $S^2$ called expanding Thurston maps, which are topological models of some non-uniformly…

In this paper, we use the thermodynamical formalism to show that there exists a unique equilibrium state $\mu_\phi$ for each expanding Thurston map $f: S^2\rightarrow S^2$ together with a real-valued H\"older continuous potential $\phi$.…

Every expanding Thurston map $f$ without periodic critical points is known to have an iterate $f^n$ which is the topological mating of two polynomials. This has been examined by Kameyama and Meyer; the latter who has offered an explicit…