On the connectedness of the automorphism group of an affine toric variety

We obtain a criterion for the automorphism group of an affine toric variety to be connected in combinatorial terms and in terms of the divisor class group of the variety. The component group of the automorphism group of a non-degenerate affine toric variety is described. In particular, we show that the number of connected components of the automorphism group is finite.