Let commute. On an open set where is equicontinuous, so is , by the rational map is Lipschitz in the chordal metric bound. Since this equals , equicontinuity descends through the open map : near every nearby value has a preimage near , and the corresponding estimates hold for all . Thus . A degree-at-least-two Julia set contains at least three points, all omitted by the iterates of on . The three-value Montel theorem gives . Exchanging the maps proves equality of their Fatou and Julia sets. The degree hypothesis excludes Möbius examples with only one Julia point.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 9 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the normalized chordal metricUnder stereographic projection it is half the Euclidean chord distance on the unit sphere, which proves the metric axioms and the agreement with the usual sphere topology. If is spherical geodesic distance, then , so .
A rational map is holomorphic, hence smooth, as a map of compact spheres. At a pole use as target coordinate, and at infinity use as source coordinate; neither is a singularity of the sphere map. Its differential in the round metric has a finite maximum norm . Integrating its norm along a minimizing spherical geodesic gives . The preceding comparisons implyThis proves that the rational map is Lipschitz in the chordal metric. For a constant map take constant zero; for a nonconstant map the bound is finite by compactness. In finite coordinates the differential norm is , with its continuous sphere extension.
Now suppose are commuting maps. We first prove . The family is locally equicontinuous on , by the normality equivalence in question 1. Commutation and the Lipschitz estimate give, for all ,For choose a source ball within that open set, small enough to make the right side less than any prescribed uniformly in . Holomorphic openness makes its image contain a ball about . Every point of that target ball has some preimage in the chosen source ball, so the same inequality proves equicontinuity of the iterates of at . Repeating at each point of the image gives local normality on that image. Thus the stated inclusion holds even where has a rational critical point.
Carefully state the permitted Montel theorem: a family of meromorphic maps on an open domain, all omitting the same three distinct values of the Riemann sphere, is normal for locally uniform spherical convergence. Since , question 1 shows that contains at least three distinct points. The forward inclusion just proved means every iterate of maps into itself and therefore omits those three points there. Montel gives . Exchanging the roles, using , gives the opposite inclusion. ConsequentlyThis proves that commuting rational maps of degree at least two have the same Julia set without assuming either is an iterate of the other.
For commuting maps of degree one with different Julia sets, takeTheir two compositions are the identity, and the Julia sets follow from the expanding and contracting Möbius cases in question 1.
For equal Julia sets without commutation, takeBoth affine maps contract toward their finite fixed points and have a repelling periodic point at infinity. But , while , so they do not commute.
Finally the distinct Chebyshev polynomialshave degrees two and three and neither is a pure power of . Direct expansion gives both compositions equal to . Equivalently , first seen at and then as a polynomial identity. This provides the requested higher-degree pair.