Uniform boundedness of \(S\)-units in arithmetic dynamics (Q2346674)

Let \(K\) be a number field, let \(S\) be a finite set of places of \(K\) that contains the set of Archimedean places, and \(s\) be the number of places in \(S\). Let \(R_S\) be the ring of \(S\)-integers of \(K\). By Siegel's Theorem, given a rational function \(\phi(z) \in K(z)\) of degree \(d\) that has at least three poles in \(\mathbb{P}^1(K)\), the image set \(\phi(K)\) contains only finitely many \(S\)-integers. In general, the upper bound on the number of \(S\)-integers depends on \(\phi\) as well as \(K\) and \(s\), and indeed, there are rational functions \(\phi\) of a fixed degree \(d\) for which the number of \(S\)-integers becomes arbitrarily large. The authors of this paper introduce the following conjectures on the number of \(S\)-units, and prove that Conjecture 1 implies Conjecture 2. Conjecture 1: The upper bound on the number of \(S\)-units in \(\phi(K)\) depends on \(d:=\mathrm{deg}(\phi)\), not on the coefficients of \(\phi\), if \(d\geq2\) and \(\phi(z)\neq (f(z))^d\) for any \(f(z)\in \overline K(z)\). Given \(\alpha \in \mathbb{P}^1(K)\), let \(O(\phi,\alpha)\) denote the orbit \(\{ \phi^n(\alpha) : n\geq 1 \}\) where \(\phi^n\) are the \(n\)-fold compositions. Conjecture 2: The upper bound on the number of \(S\)-units in \(O(\phi,\alpha)\) depends on \(d:=\mathrm{deg}(\phi)\), not on the coefficients of \(\phi\), if \(d\geq2\) and \(\phi(z)\neq \beta z^{\pm d}\) for any \(\beta\in K^*\). They also prove that Conjecture 1 follows from the Caporaso-Harris-Mazur conjecture on the number of rational points on curves of a fixed genus, which is the consequence of the Bombieri-Lang conjecture. The second author of the paper proved in [Monatsh. Math. 168, No. 3--4, 473--501 (2012; Zbl 1302.37060)] that Conjecture 2 holds for a large family of rational functions, and in the current paper, the authors prove that Conjecture 1 holds for monic polynomials \(\phi(z) \in R_S[z]\) if \(d\geq 2\) and \(\phi(z)\neq (z-\beta)^d\) for any \(\beta\in K\), and that Conjecture 2 holds for polynomials \(\phi(z)=\phi_0(z) + \beta z^i\) where \(\beta \not\in R_S\), \(\phi_0(z)\) is a monic polynomial in \(R_S[z]\), and \(i\) is any integer such that \(0\leq i <\mathrm{deg}(\phi_0(z)) -1\); in fact, they show that the number of \(S\)-units in \(O(\phi,\alpha)\) is at most \(1\).