Periodic points on the \(2\)-sphere (Q379798)

This paper solves a very special case of a long-standing conjecture on the growth rate of the number of periodic points of an endomorphism. Given a degree-two \(C^1\) endomorphism \(f\) of the 2-sphere, Problem 3 of \textit{M. Shub} [in: Proceedings of the international congress of mathematicians (ICM), Madrid, Spain, August 22--30, 2006. Volume III: Invited lectures. Zürich: European Mathematical Society (EMS). 99--120 (2006; Zbl 1113.37006)] asks whether \[ \limsup_{n \to \infty} \frac{1}{n} \log(N_n(f)) \geq \log 2 \] holds, where \(N_n(f)\) denotes the number of fixed points of \(f^n\). The authors give an affirmative answer in the case \(f\) is latitude-preserving using simple arguments. More precisely, they prove that \(f^n\) has at least \(2^n\) fixed points.