Existence of g1g–2’s on a double covering of a hyperelliptic curve

Abstract Let X be a non–hyperelliptic curve of genus g which is a double covering of a hyperelliptic curve C of genus h. In this paper, we prove that, if h≥ 3 and g≥ 4h+5, then X admits a complete, base point free g¹_g–2. Moreover, if h=3, this result holds under the mild condition g≥ 4h+3=15. Keywords: Double covering of hyperelliptic curves, Pencil of degree g–2 Mathematics Subject Classification (2000:) 14H30, 14H45