Algebraic Dynamics Seminar: Arboreal Galois groups with colliding critical points

Let f(z) be a rational function of degree d>1 over a field K (usually K=C(t) or K=Q), and let x_0 be a point in P^1(K). The Galois groups of the equations f^n(z)=x_0 are known as arboreal Galois groups because they induce an action on a d-ary rooted tree. In 2013, Pink observed that when d=2 and the two critical points c_1, c_2 collide, meaning that f^m(c_1)=f^m(c_2) for some m>0, then the arboreal Galois groups are strictly smaller than the full automorphism group of the tree. We study these arboreal Galois groups when f is either a quadratic rational function or a cubic polynomial. When the critical points collide, we describe the maximum possible Galois groups in these cases, and we find sufficient conditions for these maximum groups to be attained.