General elements of an m-primary ideal on a normal surface singularity

In this paper, we show how to apply a theorem by L\^e D.T. and the author about linear families of curves on normal surface singularities to get new results in this area. The main concept used is a specific definition of {\em general elements} of an ideal in the local ring of the surface. We make explicit the connection between this notion and the elementary notion of general element of a linear pencil, through the use of {\em reduction}. This allows us to prove the invariance of the generic Milnor number (resp. of the multiplicity of the discriminant), between two pencils generating two ideals with the same integral closure (resp. the projections associated). We also show that our theorem, applied in two special cases, on the one hand completes a theorem by Snoussi on the limits of tangent hyperplanes, and on the other hand gives an algebraic $\mu$-constant theorem in linear families of planes curves.