The aim of this paper is to prove a generalization of a theorem of Rao for families of space curves, which caracterizes the biliaison classes of curves. First we introduce the concept of pseudo-isomorphism of coherent sheaves, which generalizes the concept of stable isomorphism. An N-type resolution for a family of curves $C$ over the local ring $A$, defined by an ideal $J$, is an exact sequence $0\to P\to N\to J\to 0$ where $N$ is a locally free sheaf on $P^3_A$ and $P$ is a direct sum of invertible sheaves $O_P(-n_i)$. We prove the two following results, when the residual field of $A$ is infinite : 1. Let $C$ and $C'$ be two flat families of space curves over the local ring $A$. Then $C$ and $C'$ are in the same biliaison class if and only if their ideals $J$ and $J'$ are pseudo-isomorphic, up to a shift. 2. Let $C$ and $C'$ be two flat families of space curves over the local ring $A$, with N-type resolutions, involving sheaves $N$ and $N'$. Then $C$ and $C'$ are in the same biliaison class if and only if $N$ and $N'$ are pseudo-isomorphic, up to a shift.

Let $A$ be a noetherian ring and $R_A$ be the graded ring $A[X,Y,Z,T]$. In this article we introduce the notion of a triad, which is a generalization to families of curves in ${\bf P}^3_A$ of the notion of Rao module. A triad is a complex of graded $R_A$-modules $(L_1 \to L_0 \to L_{-1})$ with certain finiteness hypotheses on its cohomology modules. A pseudo-isomorphism between two triads is a morphism of complexes which induces an isomorphism on the functors $ h_0 (L\otimes .)$ and a monomorphism on the functors $h_{-1} (L\otimes .)$. One says that two triads are pseudo-isomorphic if they are connected by a chain of pseudo-isomorphisms. We show that to each family of curves is associated a triad, unique up to pseudo-isomorphism, and we show that the map $\{\hbox{families of curves}\}\to \{\hbox{triads}\}$ has almost all the good properties of the map $\{\hbox{curves}\}\to \{\hbox{Rao modules}\}$. In a section of examples, we show how to construct triads and families of curves systematically starting from a graded module and a sub-quotient (that is a submodule of a quotient module), and we apply these results to show the connectedness of $H_{4,0}$.

Let $A$ be a local noetherian ring and $N$ be a locally sheaf on the projective space $P^3_A$ : one proves easily that there exists a family $C$ of (smooth connected) curves contained in $P^3_A$, flat over $A$, and an integer $h$ such that the ideal sheaf $J$ of $C$ has a resolution $0\to P\to N\to J\to 0$ where $P$ is a direct sum of invertible sheaves $O_P(-n_i)$. In this paper we determine, for a given sheaf $N$, all the families of curves with such a resolution, especially the minimal ones (corresponding to the minimum value of $h$). It gives a description of the biliaison class related to $N$, and a tool for constructing families of space curves.