Curve attractors for marked rational maps

Abstract

A Thurston map $f:(S^2,A)\to (S^2,A)$ with marking set $A$ induces a pullback relation on isotopy classes of Jordan curves in $(S^2,A)$. If every curve lands in a finite list of possible curve classes after iterating this pullback relation, then the pair $(f,A)$ is said to have a finite global curve attractor. It is conjectured by Pilgrim that all rational Thurston maps that are not flexible Lattès maps have a finite global curve attractor. We present partial progress on this problem. Specifically, we prove that if $A$ has four points and the postcritical set (which is a subset of $A$) has two or three points, then $(f,A)$ has a finite global curve attractor. We also discuss extensions of the main result to certain special cases where $f$ has four postcritical points and $A=P_f$. Additionally, we speculate on how some of these ideas might be used in the more general case.

29 pages, 2 figures