Weakly projective \(C^*\)-algebras (Q444708)

Let \(X\) be a topological space and \(A\) a subspace of \(X\); a continuous map \(r:X\to A\) is called a retraction if the restriction of \(r\) to \(A\) is the identity map on \(A\). A space \(X\) is known as an absolute retract if for every normal space \(Y\) such that \(X\) embeds in \(Y\), \(X\) is a retract of \(Y\). Finally, a compact metrizable space \(X\) is an approximative absolute retract (AAR) if, whenever \(X\) is a closed subset of a compact metrizable space \(Y\), there is a sequence \(r_n\) of continuous maps \(r_n: Y\to X\) so that \(\lim_{n\to\infty} r_n(x)=x\) uniformly over \(x\) in \(X\). In the paper under review, the author extends the Gelfand contravariant functor between continuous maps \(Y\to X\) and \(\ast\)-homomorphisms \(C_0(X)\to C_0(Y)\) to the category of the AAR spaces; what he gets is a \(C^*\)-algebra analog of the AAR topological space \(X\). Namely, a separable \(C^*\)-algebra \(A\) is called weakly projective if, for every \(\ast\)-homomorphism \(\varphi: B\to C\) and every surjection \(\rho: B\to C\) of arbitrary \(C^*\)-algebras, there is a sequence of \(\varphi_n: A\to B\) of \(\ast\)-homomorphisms so that \(\rho\circ\varphi_n\to\varphi\). The author proves a handful of properties of the obtained \(C^*\)-algebras, among which is the following remarkable one: if \(A\) is separable and weakly projective \(C^*\)-algebra, then \(M_n(A)\) is also a weakly projective \(C^*\)-algebra. The paper contains examples and five open problems concerning weakly projective \(C^*\)-algebras. The lucid exposition makes the paper a good read for graduate students and faculty alike; a draft of the paper is available at {\url{http://arxiv.org/abs/0905.1520}}.