Geometric Invariant Theory via Cox Rings

We consider actions of reductive groups on a varieties with finitely generated Cox ring, e.g., the classical case of a diagonal action on a product of projective spaces. Given such an action, we construct via combinatorial data in the Cox ring all maximal open subsets such that the quotient is quasiprojective or embeddable into a toric variety. As applications, we obtain an explicit description of the chamber structure of the linearized ample cone and several Gelfand-MacPherson type correspondences relating quotients of reductive groups to quotients of torus actions. Moreover, our approach provides information on the geometry of many of the resulting quotient spaces.