On postcritically finite polynomials, part 1: critical portraits

Abstract

We extend the work of Bielefeld, Fisher and Hubbard on Critical Portraits to the case of arbitrary postcritically finite polynomials. This determines an effective classification of postcritically finite polynomials as dynamical systems. This paper is the first in a series of two based on the author's thesis, which deals with the classification of postcritically finite polynomials. In this first part we conclude the study of critical portraits initiated by Fisher and continued by Bielefeld, Fisher and Hubbard.