TITLE: Root of polynomial
QUESTION [8 upvotes]: The problem is:

Suppose that you have $f(z)=z^2-10 \in \mathbb{Q}(z)$ and denote by $f^3=f\circ f\circ f$. Define $$\phi(z)=\frac{f^3(z)-z}{f(z)-z}.$$
  If $z$ and $w$ are roots of $\phi$, then
  $$[(f^3)'(z) - (f^3)'(w)]^2,$$
  is rational.

I tried to resolve this but I couldn't. You can suppose that $f(z) - z$ divides $f^3(z) - z$ and $f(z)-z$ does not have shared root with $\phi$.

REPLY [2 votes]: I think the key observation one needs to make is 
$$\frac{d}{dX}f^n(X) = 2^n\prod_{i=0}^{n-1} f^i(X).$$
So any question about evaluating the derivative of an iterative power of $f$ at a point of $\overline{\mathbb{Q}}$ can be reduced to an examination of the orbit of that element under the monoid generated by $f.$ Let's persue such an analysis.
Consider $\mathbb{N}$ acting on $\overline{\mathbb{Q}}$ via the iterative powers of $f.$ Let $\Lambda_n$ be the set of fixed points of $f^n.$ Then the action of $\mathbb{N}$ on $\Lambda_n$ factors through $\mathbb{Z}/n.$ It follows that the orbits of the action of $\mathbb{N}$ on $\Lambda_n$ have size a divisor of $n.$ So in the particular case $n =3,$ the orbits have size $1$ or $3.$ Let $\Lambda'_3 = \Lambda_3 \setminus \Lambda_1.$ The elements of $\Lambda'_3$ are exactly the roots of $\phi,$ so $|\Lambda'_3| = 6.$ It follows $\mathbb{N}$ partitions  $\Lambda'_3$ into two disjoint subsets of size 3. 
Now consider $G_{\mathbb{Q}} = Gal(\overline{\mathbb{Q}}/\mathbb{Q}).$ Because $\Lambda'_3$ is cut out as the vanishing of a polynomial over $\mathbb{Q},$ the group $G_{\mathbb{Q}}$ acts on $\Lambda'_3.$ Furthermore, as $\mathbb{N}$ acts through the iterative powers of $f,$ and these maps are defined over $\mathbb{Q},$ the $G_{\mathbb{Q}}$ action and $\mathbb{N}$ action on $\Lambda'_3$ commute. It follows the $G_{\mathbb{Q}}$ action on $\Lambda'_3$ induces an action on the set of orbits of $\Lambda'_3$ under $\mathbb{N}.$   
Let $z_1,z_2 \in \Lambda'_3$ and $O_{z_1}$ and $O_{z_2}$ be the orbits of $z$ and $w,$ respectively, under $\mathbb{N}.$ Then
$$(\frac{df^3}{dX}(z_1) - \frac{df^3}{dX}(z_2))^2 = 64(\prod_{i=0}^{2} f^i(z_1) - \prod_{i=0}^{2} f^i(z_2))^2 = 64(\prod_{p \in O_{z_1}} p - \prod_{p \in O_{z_2}} p)^2.$$
It follows 
$$(\frac{df^3}{dX}(z_1) - \frac{df^3}{dX}(z_2))^2 = 0$$
if $O_{z_1} = O_{z_2}.$ On the other hand, if $O_{z_1} \ne O_{z_2},$ then for any $\sigma \in G_{\mathbb{Q}},$
$$\sigma(\frac{df^3}{dX}(z_1) - \frac{df^3}{dX}(z_2))^2 = 64(\prod_{p \in \sigma(O_{z_1})} p - \prod_{p \in \sigma(O_{z_2})} p)$$
which is equal to $64(\prod_{p \in O_{z_1}} p - \prod_{p \in O_{z_2}} p)^2$ if $\sigma$ acts trivially on $\Lambda'_3/\mathbb{N}$ and $64(\prod_{p \in O_{z_2}} p - \prod_{p \in O_{z_1}} p)^2,$ otherwise. Hence, $(\frac{df^3}{dX}(z_1) - \frac{df^3}{dX}(z_2))^2$ is fixed by $G_\mathbb{Q}$. We conclude $(\frac{df^3}{dX}(z_1) - \frac{df^3}{dX}(z_2))^2$ is rational.