Misiurewicz parameters and dynamical stability of polynomial-like maps of large topological degree (Q2419945)

The author investigates the dynamical stability within arbitrary families of \textit{polynomial}-\textit{like} \textit{maps of large topological degree} and endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^k\). The goal is to generalize to this setting the theory developed by the author, in collaboration with \textit{F. Berteloot} and \textit{C. Dupont}, in [Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 51, No. 1, 215--262 (2018; Zbl 1454.32011)] for the family of all endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^k\) of a given degree. In particular, the main result in the paper relates bifurcations in such families to the growth of the volume of the critical set under iteration. This generalizes the one-dimensional equivalence between dynamical stability and normality of the critical orbits. The study of dynamical stability within families of holomorphic dynamical systems \(f_\lambda\) goes back to the 80s, when Lyubich and Mañé-Sad-Sullivan independently set the foundations of the study of holomorphic families of rational maps in dimension 1. They proved that several natural definitions of stability are actually equivalent, and that the stability locus is an open dense subset of the parameter space. An important breakthrough in the field occurred in 2000, when De Marco proved a formula relating the \textit{Lyapunov function} \(L(f_\lambda)\) of a rational map (equal to the integral of the logarithm of the Jacobian of \(f_\lambda\) with respect to the unique measure of maximal entropy for \(f_\lambda\)) to the critical dynamics of the family. This allowed for the start of a measure-theoretic study of bifurcations. Recently, there has been a big activity in trying to generalize the theory by Lyubich, Mañé-Sad-Sullivan and De Marco to higher dimensions. In particular in [loc. cit.], the author, Berteloot and Dupont dealt with the case of families of endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^k\), which is the higher-dimensional analogue of rational maps, and, as in dimension 1, the bifurcation locus in this setting turns out to coincide with the support of \(dd^c L\). The main goal of the paper under review is to generalize the description given in [loc. cit.] to the setting of polynomial like maps of large topological degree, and at the same time to extend that theory to an arbitrary family of endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^k\). This is achieved by overcoming two main difficulties. The first deals with the relation between global and critical stabilities and is related to the absence of potentials. The author introduces a more geometric approach, with the additional value of giving a more quantitative insight on bifurcations. The second concerns the bifurcations of repelling cycles and is related to the absence of an algebraic structure for the considered families. As a consequence of the approach in the paper, the author is also able to establish an extended version of the theory of [loc. cit.] to arbitrary families of endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^k\), a question left open in that paper. \textit{Polynomial-like maps} are proper holomorphic functions \(f:U\to V\), where \(U\subset \subset V\subset \mathbb{C}^k\) and \(V\) is convex. They can be thought of as a generalization of the endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^k\), since lifts of these give rise to polynomial-like maps. In the case of polynomial-like maps of large topological degree, that is those for which, roughly speaking, the topological degree dominates the other dynamical degrees, (see Definition 2.7 in the paper) the equilibrium measure enjoys much of the properties of its counterpart for endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^k\), but does not admit any potential. \textit{Misiurewicz parameters} are the higher-dimensional analogue of the maps with a strictly preperiodic critical point in dimension 1 and are the key to understand the interplay between bifurcation and critical dynamics. Given \(f_\lambda : U_\lambda \to V_\lambda\) a holomorphic family of polynomial-like maps and letting \(C_f\) be the critical set of the map \(f(\lambda,z) = (\lambda, f\lambda(z))\), a point \(\lambda_0\) of the parameter space \(M\) is called a \textit{Misiurewicz parameter} if there exist a neighbourhood \(N_{\lambda_0} \subset M\) of \(\lambda_0\) and a holomorphic map \(\sigma \colon N_{\lambda_0}\to \mathbb{C}^k\) such that: \begin{itemize} \item[1.] for every \(\lambda\in N_{\lambda_0}\), \(\sigma(\lambda)\) is a repelling periodic point; \item[2.] \(\sigma(\lambda_0)\) is in the Julia set \(J_{\lambda_0}\) of \(f_{\lambda_0}\), where the Julia set is the support of the equilibrium measure; \item[3.] there exists an \(n_0\) such that \((\lambda_0, \sigma (\lambda_0))\) belongs to some component of \(f^{n_0} (C_f)\); \item[4.] \(\sigma(N_{\lambda_0})\) is not contained in a component of \(f^{n_0} (C_f)\) satisfying 3. \end{itemize} The main result of the paper is the following (see Definition 2.6 for the definition of the Lyapunov function \(L\)). Theorem A. Let \(f_\lambda\) be a holomorphic family of polynomial-like maps of large topological degree. Assume that \(\lambda_0\) is a Misiurewicz parameter. Then, \(\lambda_0 \in\mathrm{Supp}~dd^c L\). In the second part of the paper the author exploits Theorem A to generalize the theory developed in [loc. cit.] to the setting of polynomial-like maps of large topological degree and to arbitrary families of endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{P}^k\). The main task here is to establish an analogous result in this setting of the equivalence between the holomorphic motion of the repelling cycles and the holomorphic motion of the Julia sets.