Critical point of a rational map ($e_p(R)\ge 2$)

For a nonconstant rational map, choose local source and target coordinates centred at $p$ and $R(p)$. If the local expression is $a{u}^e+O(u^{e+1})$ with $a\ne 0$, its local degree is $e$, and $p$ is critical exactly when $e\ge 2$. This definition covers poles and infinity; a simple pole is not critical merely because the usual finite-coordinate expression is unbounded. Coordinate changes have nonzero first derivatives and leave $e$ unchanged.

A critical orbit is the forward sequence $p,R(p),R^2(p),\dots$ starting at a critical point of a rational map. The postcritical set records the forward images, usually from the first iterate onward, of all critical points; a single critical orbit and the union of all such images are distinct notions. For quadratic polynomials there is one finite critical point, zero, and its orbit controls connectedness of the filled Julia set and membership in the Mandelbrot set. A bounded orbit can be preperiodic to a repelling cycle, as $0\mapsto i\mapsto -1+i\mapsto -i\mapsto -1+i$ for $z^2+i$; boundedness then does not imply Fatou membership.

Local degrees multiply under composition: $e_p(S\circ R)=e_p(R)e_{R(p)}(S)$, directly by substituting the two local power-series expansions. ConsequentlyIn particular every critical point of $R$ remains critical for each positive iterate, and every critical point of an iterate reaches a critical point of $R$ in fewer than $n$ steps. This covers infinity as well as finite points. For polynomials at finite points the same conclusion follows from $(P^n{)}^{\prime }(z)={\prod }_{j=0}^{n-1}{P}^{\prime }(P^j(z))$.

At a point of local degree $e$, the critical multiplicity is $e-1$. At an ordinary finite point this is the order of vanishing of the derivative. The invariant local-coordinate definition also works at poles and infinity. For $R(z)=z^d$, zero and infinity both have multiplicity $d-1$, so a critical-point count must count multiplicities: there are two distinct critical points but total multiplicity $2d-2$.

A degree-$d$ rational map has total critical multiplicity $2d-2$. Here is an algebraic proof. Critical points are isolated zeros of local derivatives and are finite in number by compactness. Change domain and range Möbius coordinates so that the poles are $d$ simple finite poles and infinity is a regular point with a finite image. Write $R=P/Q$, with $\mathrm{deg}Q=d$, and $R(z)=a+b/z+O(z^{-2})$, $b\ne 0$. Then $W=P^{\prime }Q-P{Q}^{\prime }$ has degree exactly $2d-2$, since $R^{\prime }=W/Q^2\sim -b/z^2$. At a pole, $W=-P{Q}^{\prime }\ne 0$. Thus the roots of $W$ are precisely the critical points and their zero orders are the critical multiplicities. The fundamental theorem of algebra gives the count; the coordinate changes preserve it.