Related papers: Surgery on postcritically finite rational maps by …
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 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…
Let $f: S^2 \to S^2$ be a postcritically finite branched covering map without periodic branch points. We give necessary and sufficient algebraic conditions for $f$ to be homotopic, relative to its postcritical set, to an expanding map $g$.
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.…
Every Thurston map $f\colon S^2\rightarrow S^2$ on a $2$-sphere $S^2$ induces a pull-back operation on Jordan curves $\alpha\subset S^2\setminus P_f$, where $P_f$ is the postcritical set of $f$. Here the isotopy class $[f^{-1}(\alpha)]$…
The dynamical classification of rational maps is a central concern of holomorphic dynamics. Much progress has been made, especially on the classification of polynomials and some approachable one-parameter families of rational maps; the goal…
Topological mating is an combination that takes two same-degree polynomials and produces a new map with dynamics inherited from this initial pair. This process frequently yields a map that is Thurston-equivalent to a rational map $F$ on the…
Under some mild assumptions, an orientation-preserving branched covering map of marked $2$-spheres induces a pullback map between the corresponding Teichm\"uller spaces. By analyzing the associated pushforward operator acting on integrable…
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.…
Recent work of Dylan Thurston gives a condition for when a post-critically finite branched self-cover of the sphere is equivalent to a rational map. We apply D. Thurston's positive criterion for rationality to give a new proof of a theorem…
We demonstrate that the question whether or not a given postcritically finite topological ramified covering map of the 2-sphere is Thurston equivalent to a rational map is algorithmically decidable.
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…
Renormalizations can be considered as building blocks of complex dynamical systems. This phenomenon has been widely studied for iterations of polynomials of one complex variable. Concerning non-polynomial hyperbolic rational maps, a recent…
This is the announcement, and the long summary, of a series of articles on the algorithmic study of Thurston maps. We describe branched coverings of the sphere in terms of group-theoretical objects called bisets, and develop a theory of…
An orientation-preserving branched covering map $f\colon S^2 \to S^2$ is called a critically fixed Thurston map if $f$ fixes each of its critical points. It was recently shown that there is an explicit one-to-one correspondence between…
William Thurston (1946-2012) gave a combinatorial characterization for generic branched self-coverings of the two-sphere by associating a planar graph to them 10.48550/arXiv.1502.04760. By generalizing the notion of local balancing, the…
We suggest a way to associate to a rational map of the Riemann sphere a three dimensional object called a hyperbolic orbifold 3-lamination. The relation of this object to the map is analogous to the relation of a hyperbolic 3-manifold to a…
We prove that every postsingularly finite entire map $g$ can be approximated by a sequence of postcritically finite complex polynomials $(g_n)$ such that their postsingular dynamics $g|P_g$ and $g_n|P_{g_n}$ are conjugate for every $n \in…
We obtain an analogue of the prime number theorem for a class of branched covering maps on the $2$-sphere called expanding Thurston maps $f$, which are topological models of some rational maps without any smoothness or holomorphicity…
We extend Thurston's combinatorial criterion for postcritically finite rational maps to a class of rational maps with bounded type Siegel disks. The combinatorial characterization of this class of Siegel rational maps plays a special role…