On the birationality of the adjunction mapping of projective varieties

Let $X$ be a smooth projective $n$-fold such that $q(X)=0$ and $L$ a globally generated, big line bundle on $X$ such that $h^0(K_X+(n-2)L) >0$. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the adjoint systems $|K_X+kL|$ to be birational for $k \geq n-1$. In particular, for Calabi-Yau $n$-folds we generalize and prove parts of a conjecture of Gallego and Purnaprajna.Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication in Journal of the Ramanujan Mathematical Societ

Remarks on families of singular curves with hyperelliptic normalizations

We give restrictions on the existence of families of curves on smooth projective surfaces $S$ of nonnegative Kodaira dimension all having constant geometric genus $g \geq 2$ and hyperelliptic normalizations. In particular, we prove a Reider-like result whose proof is ``vector bundle-free'' and relies on deformation theory and bending-and-breaking of rational curves in \Sym^2(S). We also give examples of families of such curves.Comment: 18 page