Homotopy of unitaries in simple \(C^{*}\)-algebras with tracial rank one (Q2267507)

\textit{O.\,Bratteli, G.\,A.\thinspace Elliott, D.\,E.\thinspace Evans} and \textit{A.\,Kishimoto} [J.~Funct.\ Anal.\ 160, No.\,2, 466--523 (1998; Zbl 0939.46033)] have proved the Basic Homotopy Lemma: If two unitaries of a certain \(C^*\)-algebra \(A\), with one having spectrum density and the other trivial as a \(K_1\)-element, are closely commuting in norm and have their Bott element trivial, then the second unitary can be connected to the identity element of \(A\) by a continuous path of unitaries with the norm going to zero along this path uniformly, where \(A\) is either a unital purely infinite simple \(C^*\)-algebra or a unital simple \(C^*\)-algebra with real rank zero and stable rank one. The main purpose of this paper is to study the Basic Homotopy Lemmas in simple separable \(C^*\)-algebras with tracial rank one (in this case, \(A\) is no longer assumed to have real rank zero, or tracial rank zero), and to give a classification theorem for homomorphisms, up to asymptotic unitary equivalence, from a unital separable simple AH-algebra into a unital separable simple \(C^*\)-algebra with tracial rank one. The main theorem is as follows. If a unital homomorphism from a unital separable simple amenable \(C^*\)-algebra \(C\) with tracial rank one and satisfying the Universal Coefficient Theorem to a unital simple \(C^*\)-algebra \(A\) with tracial rank at most one is closely commuting with a unitary element of \(A\) on a finite set \(G\) of \(C\) having Bott elements restricted zero, the unitary can be connected to the identity element of \(A\) with the norm going to zero along this path uniformly on a finite subset of \(G\).