Quotients of divisorial toric varieties (Q1396303)

If \(X\) is a toric variety and \(H\) is a subtorus of the big torus then \(X\) has a toric quotient, i.e. a categorical quotient \(p:X\to X/_{ \text{tq}}H\) in the category of toric varieties. This was shown by the authors of the present paper [\textit{A. A'Campo-Neuen} and \textit{J. Hausen}, Tohoku Math. J., II. Ser. 51, 1-12 (1999; Zbl 0942.14028)]. A divisorial variety as defined by Borelli is an irreducible variety in which every point has an affine neighbourhood whose complement supports an effective Cartier divisor: For toric varieties this is the same as the condition of \textit{T. Kajiwara} [Tohoku Math. J., II. Ser. 50, 139-157 (1998; Zbl 0949.14032)] of having enough invariant effective Cartier divisors. In this paper the authors construct a toric divisorial reduction \(Y\to Y^{ \text{tdr}}\) from an arbitrary toric variety \(Y\) to a divisorial toric variety \(Y^{ \text{tdr}}\), universal for maps from \(Y\) to toric divisorial varieties. They show that the action of \(H\) on a divisorial toric variety \(X\) admits a categorical quotient in the category of divisorial varieties if and only if \(q\circ p:X\to (X/_{ \text{tq}}H)^{ \text{tdr}}\) is surjective, where \(q:X/_{ \text{tq}}H\to (X/_{ \text{tq}}H)^{ \text{tdr}}\) is the divisorial reduction of \(X/_{ \text{tq}}H\). In that case \(q\circ p\) is the categorical quotient. It is an open problem to find necessary and sufficient conditions for a categorical quotient of a given toric variety by a subtorus in the category of algebraic varieties to exist.