Generalizations of Cayley's -process

In this paper we axiomatize some constructions and results due to Cayley and Hilbert. We define the concept of -process for an arbitrary affine algebraic monoid with zero and unit group . In our situation we show how to produce from the process and for a linear rational representation of a number of elements of the ring of -invariants that is large enough to guarantee its finite generation. Moreover, using complete reducibility, we give an explicit construction of all -processes for reductive monoids.