Hausdorff limits of external rays: the topological picture (Q6552602)

Let \(P\) be a polynomial with connected Julia set. Let \(\phi\) be the conformal map from the exterior of the unit disk to the exterior of the Julia set of \(P\). An \textit{external ray} is the image of a ray \(\{\mathrm{Re}^{i\theta}\colon r>1\}\) unter \(\phi\). It is known that if an external ray \(R\) is periodic, then it \textit{lands} at a periodic point; that is, \(\zeta:=\lim_{r\to 1} \phi(\mathrm{Re}^{i\theta})\) exists and is periodic. Put \(\overline{R}:=R\cup\{\zeta,\infty\}\).\N\NLet now \((P_n)\) be a sequence of polynomials (of the same degree as \(P\)) which converges to \(P\). Suppose that the Julia sets of the \(P_n\) and of \(P\) are connected. Let \(R\), \(\overline{R}\) and \(\zeta\) be as above and let \(R_n\), \(\overline{R_n}\) and \(\zeta_n\) be the corresponding quantities for \(P_n\). Passing to a subsequence one may assume that the limits \(\zeta_\infty:=\lim_{n\to\infty} \zeta_n\) and \({\mathcal L}:=\lim_{n\to\infty} \overline{R_n}\) exist, where the latter limit is taken with respect to the Hausdorff metric on the Riemann sphere. It is known that if \(\zeta\) is repelling, then \({\mathcal L}=\overline{R}\). But if \(\zeta\) is parabolic, then \({\mathcal L}\) may be strictly larger than \(\overline{R}\). In this paper, the authors study the set \({\mathcal L}\) in detail. They call the case \({\mathcal L}=\overline{R}\) the tame case, the case \({\mathcal L}\supsetneq\overline{R}\) and \(\zeta=\zeta_\infty\) the semiwild case, and the case \({\mathcal L}\supsetneq\overline{R}\) and \(\zeta\neq\zeta_\infty\) the wild case.