Persistent Markov partitions and hyperbolic components of rational maps

Markov partitions persisting in a neighbourhood of hyperbolic components of rational maps were constructed under the condition that closures of Fatou components are disjoint in \cite{R1}. Given such a partition, we characterize all nearby hyperbolic components in terms of the symbolic dynamics. This means we can count them, and also obtain topological information. We also determine extra conditions under which all nearby type IV hyperbolic components are given by matings. These are probably the first known results of this type.