Integer Points in Backward Orbits

Abstract

A theorem of J. Silverman states that a forward orbit of a rational map $\varphi (z)$ on ${\mathbb{P}}^1(K)$ contains finitely many $S$-integers in the number field $K$ when $(\varphi \circ \varphi )(z)$ is not a polynomial. We state an analogous conjecture for the backward orbits using a general $S$-integrality notion based on the Galois conjugates of points. This conjecture is proven for the map $\varphi (z)=z^d$, and consequently Chebyshev polynomials, by uniformly bounding the number of Galois orbits for $z^n-\beta$ when $\beta \ne 0$ is a non-root of unity. In general, our conjecture is true provided that the number of Galois orbits for ${\varphi }^n(z)-\beta$ is bounded independently of $n$.

13 pages