On the dynamics of the rational family \(f_{t}(z)={-t/4} {(z^{2}-2)^{2}/(z^{2}-1)}\) (Q428933)

The authors consider the one-parameter family \[ f_t(z)=-\frac{t}{4}\;\frac{(z^2-2)^2}{z^2-1} \] of rational maps. These functions have a superattracting fixed point at \(\infty\) and the other critical points are at \(\pm\sqrt{2}\) and 0. As \(\pm\sqrt{2}\to 0\to t\to\cdots\), there is only one ``free'' critical orbit. The paper contains a thorough study of the dynamics of the functions \(f_t\) and the associated bifurcation diagrams. Among the numerous proved results, we mention only that if the critical orbit escapes to \(\infty\), then the Julia set is either a Cantor set or a Sierpiński curve.