Canonical heights and the arithmetic complexity of morphisms on projective space (Q1038554)

Let \(h:\mathbb{P}^N(\overline{\mathbb{Q}})\to\mathbb{R}\) be the standard (absolute logarithmic) Weil height, and let \(\phi:\mathbb{P}^N\to\mathbb{P}^N\) be a morphism of degree \(d\geq 2\) defined over \(\overline{\mathbb{Q}}\). Much information about the mappings induced by iterates of \(\phi\) is encoded in the canonical height function associated to \(\phi\), namely the map \(\hat h_{\phi}:\mathbb{P}^N(\overline{\mathbb{Q}})\to\mathbb{R}\) defined by \(\hat h_{\phi}(P)=\lim_{n\to\infty} h(\phi^n(P))/d^n\). In a previous paper [Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3) 95, No. 2, 519--544 (2007; Zbl 1130.11035)], the authors showed that two morphisms with identical canonical heights are intimately related to one another. In the present paper the authors propose the difference \(\hat h_{\phi}-\hat h_{\psi}\) as an intrinsic measure of the dynamical distance between two morphisms \(\phi\) and \(\psi\). Let \[ \hat\delta(\phi,\psi)=\sup_{P\in\mathbb{P}^N(\overline{\mathbb Q})}| \hat h_{\phi}(P)-\hat h_{\psi}(P)|, \] and define the Weil height \(h(\phi)\) to be the height of the point in \(\mathbb{P}^{d(N+1)-1}\) obtained by listing the coefficients of the polynomials defining \(\phi\). The authors show that \[ \hat\delta(\phi,\psi)-h(\psi)\ll h(\phi)\ll \hat\delta(\phi,\psi)+h(\psi), \] where the implied constants depend only on \(N\) and the degrees of \(\phi\) and \(\psi\). Now fix \(\psi\) and integers \(d,B\geq 2\), and let \(S\) be the set of degree-\(d\) morphisms \(\phi\) of \(\mathbb{P}^N\) which are defined over \(\overline{\mathbb Q}\) and which satisfy \(\hat\delta(\phi,\psi)\leq B\). The previous result implies that \(S\) is a set of bounded height in \(\mathbb{P}^{d(N+1)-1}\), and so (by Northcott's theorem) there are only finitely many such \(\phi\) defined over number fields of bounded degree over \(\mathbb{Q}\).