Related papers: The augmented deformation space of rational maps

We study the group of self-equivalences of a partially postcritically finite branched cover and answer a question of Adam Epstein about contractibility of certain deformation spaces of rational maps.

Let $f:(\mathbb{P}^1,P)\to(\mathbb{P}^1,P)$ be a postcritically finite rational map with postcritical set $P$. William Thurston showed that $f$ induces a holomorphic pullback map $\sigma_f:\mathcal{T}_P\to\mathcal{T}_P$ on the Teichm\"uller…

We analyze a real one-parameter family of quasiconformal deformations of a hyperbolic rational map known as {\em spinning}. We show that under fairly general hypotheses, the limit of spinning either exists and is unique, or else converges…

In this paper, we construct geometrically finite rational maps with buried critical points on the boundaries of some hyperbolic components by using the pinching and plumbing deformations.

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 consider harmonic maps on simply connected Riemann surfaces into the group $\mathrm{U}(n)$ of unitary matrices of order $n$. It is known that a harmonic map with an associated algebraic extended solution can be deformed into a new…

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 develop techniques for using compactifications of Hurwitz spaces to study families of rational maps $\mathbb{P}^1\to\mathbb{P}^1$ defined by critical orbit relations. We apply these techniques in two settings: We show that the parameter…

We give a complete combinatorial description of the bifurcation structure in the space of exponential maps $z\mapsto\exp(z)+\kappa$. This combinatorial structure is the basis for a number of important results about exponential parameter…

We realize a dynamical decomposition for a post-critically finite rational map which admits a combinatorial decomposition. We split the Riemann sphere into two completely invariant subsets. One is a subset of the Julia set consisting of…

This continues the investigation of a combinatorial model for the variation of dynamics in the family of rational maps of degree two, by concentrating on those varieties in which one critical point is periodic. We prove some general results…

We provide new examples of integrable rational maps in four dimensions with two rational invariants, which have unexpected geometric properties, as for example orbits confined to non algebraic varieties, and fall outside classes studied by…

We develop a Thurston-like theory to characterize geometrically finite rational maps, then apply it to study pinching and plumbing deformations of rational maps. We show that in certain conditions the pinching path converges uniformly and…

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…

We study the dynamics of the three-dimensional quadratic diffeomorphism using a concept first introduced thirty years ago for the Frenkel-Kontorova model of condensed matter physics: the anti-integrable (AI) limit. At the traditional AI…

We study extensions of the measure of maximal entropy to suitable compactifications of the parameter space and the moduli space of rational maps acting on the Riemann sphere. For parameter space, we consider a space which resolves the…

Answering a question posed by Adam Epstein, we show that the collection of conjugacy classes of polynomials admitting a parabolic fixed point and at most one infinite critical orbit is a set of bounded height in the relevant moduli space.…

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.…

In a previous paper, we constructed an explicit dynamical correspondence between certain Kleinian reflection groups and certain anti-holomorphic rational maps on the Riemann sphere. In this paper, we show that their deformation spaces share…

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…