Deformations of canonical double covers (Q2630880)

Let \(Y\) be a smooth variety with \(h^0(\omega_Y)=0\) and let \(\pi: X\to Y\) be a double cover such that \(X\) is smooth and of general type. The projection formula for double covers shows that the canonical map \(\phi\) of \(X\) factors through \(\pi\); if, in addition, the branch locus of \(\pi\) is sufficiently positive, then \(\phi\) is the composition of \(\pi\) with an embedding of \(Y\) into projective space, and we say that \(X\) is a canonical double cover of \(Y\). Assume now that \(Y\) is one of the following rational varieties of dimension \(\geq 2\): projective space, a smooth quadric, a projective space bundle over \({\mathbb P}^1\). In this paper it is proven that, given a canonical double cover \(X\to Y\) and a \(1\)-parameter deformation \(X_t\) of \(X\), then for \(t\) general the variety \(X_t\) is a canonical double cover of a deformation of \(Y\).