Integrality and Thurston Rigidity for Bicritical PCF Polynomials

Abstract

We give an algebraic proof of an important consequence of Thurston rigidity for bicritical PCF polynomials with periodic critical points under certain mild assumptions. The key result is that when the family of bicritical polynomials is parametrized using dynamical Belyi polynomials, the PCF solutions are integral at certain special primes, which we term ``index divisor free primes.'' We prove the existence of index divisor free primes in all but finitely many cases and conjecture the complete list of exceptions. These primes are then used to prove transversality.