On the geometry of SL(2)-equivariant flips

In this paper, we show that any 3-dimensional normal affine quasihomogeneous SL(2)-variety can be described as a categorical quotient of a 4-dimensional affine hypersurface. Moreover, we show that the Cox ring of an arbitrary 3-dimensional normal affine quasihomogeneous SL(2)-variety has a unique defining equation. This allows us to construct SL(2)-equivariant flips by different GIT-quotients of hypersurfaces. Using the theory of spherical varieties, we describe SL(2)-flips by means of 2-dimensional colored cones.