The moduli space of a rational map is Carathéodory hyperbolic

Abstract: Let $f$ be a rational map of degree $d\geq 2$. The moduli space $\mathcal{M}_f$, introduced by McMullen and Sullivan, is a complex analytic space consisting all quasiconformal conjugacy classes of $f$. For $f$ that is not flexible Latt`es, we show that there is a normal affine variety $X_f$ of dimension $2d-2$ and a holomorphic injection $i:\mathcal{M}_f\to X_f$ such that $i(\mathcal{M}_f)$ is precompact in $X_f$. In particular $\mathcal{M}_f$ is Carath\'eodory hyperbolic (i.e. bounded holomorphic functions separate points in $\mathcal{M}_f$), provided that $f$ is not flexible Latt`es. This solves a conjecture of McMullen. When $d\geq 4$, we give a concrete construction of $X_f$ as the normalization of the Zariski closure of the image of the reciprocal multiplier spectrum morphism.