Iitaka dimension
In algebraic geometry, the Iitaka dimension of a line bundle L on an algebraic variety X is the dimension of the image of the rational map to projective space determined by L. This is 1 less than the dimension of the section ring of L
The Iitaka dimension of L is always less than or equal to the dimension of X. If L is not effective, then its Iitaka dimension is usually defined to be or simply said to be negative (some early references define it to be −1). The Iitaka dimension of L is sometimes called L-dimension, while the dimension of a divisor D is called D-dimension. The Iitaka dimension was introduced by Shigeru Iitaka (1970, 1971).
A line bundle is big if it is of maximal Iitaka dimension, that is, if its Iitaka dimension is equal to the dimension of the underlying variety. Bigness is a birational invariant: If f : Y → X is a birational morphism of varieties, and if L is a big line bundle on X, then f*L is a big line bundle on Y.
All ample line bundles are big.
Big line bundles need not determine birational isomorphisms of X with its image. For example, if C is a hyperelliptic curve (such as a curve of genus two), then its canonical bundle is big, but the rational map it determines is not a birational isomorphism. Instead, it is a two-to-one cover of the canonical curve of C, which is a rational normal curve.
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