Controlled KK-theory II: A Mayer-Vietoris Principle and The UCT

Controlled KK-theory II: a Mayer-Vietoris
arXiv:2104.10766v1 [math.OA] 21 Apr 2021
principle and the UCT

Rufus Willett and Guoliang Yu
April 23, 2021
Abstract
We introduce the notion of a decomposable C ˚ -algebra. Roughly,

this means that there is an almost central element that approximately
cuts the C ˚ -algebra into two finite-dimensional subalgebras with well-
behaved intersection. There are many examples of decomposable (and
simple) C ˚ -algebras including Cuntz algebras, and crossed products
associated to Cantor minimal systems.
Kirchberg has shown that to establish the Universal Coefficient
Theorem (UCT) of Rosenberg and Schochet for all separable nuclear
C ˚ -algebras, it suffices to establish it for all Kirchberg algebras with
zero K-theory. Our main result shows that if a separable C ˚ -algebra
has zero K-theory and is decomposable, then it satisfies the UCT.
Combining our result with Kirchberg’s, it follows that the UCT for all
separable nuclear C ˚ -algebras is equivalent to the statement that all
Kirchberg algebras with zero K-theory are decomposable.
Contents
1 Introduction 2
2 Controlled KK-groups in the even case 10
1
3 Controlled KK-groups in the odd case 17
4 Homotopies, similarities, and normalization 20

4.1 From similarities to homotopies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.2 Normalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.3 From homotopies to similarities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5 The boundary map 33
6 Finite dimensional algebras 55
7 Decomposable C ˚ -algebras and the UCT 62
A Examples of decomposable C ˚ -algebras 66

A.1 Cuntz algebras are decomposable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
A.2 Cantor minimal systems are decomposable . . . . . . . . . . . 73
1 Introduction
In this introduction, anything called A or B is a separable C ˚ -algebra. A
C ˚ -algebra A is said to satisfy the Universal Coefficient Theorem (UCT) of
Rosenberg and Schochet [31] if for any C ˚ -algebra B, there is a canonical
short exact sequence
0 Ñ ExtpK˚ pAq, K˚ pBqq Ñ KKpA, Bq Ñ HompK˚ pAq, K˚ pBqq Ñ 0.
Thus one can say informally that a C ˚ -algebra satisfies the UCT if all KK-
groups involving A are determined by the associated K-theory groups. The
UCT is known to be satisfied for a large class of separable C ˚ -algebras: for
example, it is satisfied for all (separable) inductive limits of type I C ˚ -algebras
[31, 1.17], and for the C ˚ -algebra of any (second countable) amenable groupoid
[36, Proposition 10.7]. However, Skandalis [33, page 571] has shown that
there are C ˚ -algebras that do not satisfy the UCT.
Now, the examples given by Skandalis are not nuclear. Whether or not
the UCT holds for all nuclear C ˚ -algebras is an important open problem.
2
One reason for this is the spectacular recent progress [15, 16, 13, 12, 35]
(see also [7]) in the Elliott program [11] to classify simple, separable, nuclear
C ˚ -algebras by K-theoretic invariants. Establishing the range of validity of
the UCT is now the only barrier to getting the “best possible” classification
result in this setting.
The goal of this paper is to introduce a new sufficient condition for the
UCT, and in particular to give a new reformulation of the UCT problem for
nuclear C ˚ -algebras in terms of a structural property of Kirchberg algebras.
Decomposable C ˚ -algebras
Our sufficient condition for the UCT is based on a new structural property
of C ˚ -algebras that we call decomposability. Roughly, a C ˚ -algebra is decom-
posable if there are almost central elements that “cut” the C ˚ -algebra into
two finite-dimensional C ˚ -algebras that have well-behaved (approximate) in-
tersection. The definition of decomposability is inspired by the properties of
having nuclear dimension one as in [40] and real rank zero as in [6], and also
by the authors’ earlier work on the Künneth formula (partly in collaboration
with Oyono-Oyono) [25, 37]. Indeed (we discuss this in more detail below),
if a C ˚ -algebra has real rank zero and nuclear dimension one, then there
are almost central elements that “cut” it into two finite-dimensional C ˚ -
subalgebras, but without necessarily giving any control on the intersection.
The condition on the intersection is important for our K-theoretic compu-
tations (similarly to the very closely related approximate ideal structures
introduced in [37]), so we make it part of our property.
If X and Y are subsets of a metric space and ą 0, we write X Ď Y if
for all x P X there is y P Y such that dpx, yq ď .
Definition 1.1. A C ˚ -algebra A is decomposable if for every finite subset X

of the unit ball of A and every ą 0 there exists a positive contraction h P A
and finite dimensional C ˚ -subalgebras Fh , F1´h Ď A such that:
(i) }rh, xs} ď for all x P X;
(ii) hX Ď Fh and p1 ´ hqX Ď F1´h ;
3
(iii) there is a finite-dimensional C ˚ -subalgebra F of A such that hp1 ´
hqX Ď F , and such that if B is the unit ball of F , then B Ď Fh and
B Ď F1´h .
If the same condition holds but with (iii) omitted, A is said to be weakly
decomposable.
To get a feeling for this definition, let us give some examples.
Example 1.2. We will show in Appendix A below that the Cuntz algebras
On are decomposable for finite n, and that crossed products arising from
minimal actions of Z on the Cantor set are decomposable.
Example 1.3. In [19], Jaime and the first author show that all C ˚ -algebras
with nuclear dimension one and real rank zero are weakly decomposable.
Conversely, [19] also shows that a weakly decomposable C ˚ -algebra has nu-
clear dimension one (and in particular is nuclear). We do not know if (weak)
decomposability implies real rank zero in general.
In particular, these results imply that Kirchberg algebras are always
weakly decomposable, as [41, Theorem 1] shows they have always have real
rank zero and [5, Theorem G] shows they always have nuclear dimension one.
More generally, thanks to the recent successful resolution of (part of) the
Toms-Winter conjecture [8, 9], nuclear dimension one is now known to be a
very common property of simple nuclear C ˚ -algebras. On the other hand,
real rank zero has been known to be fairly widespread among simple nuclear
C ˚ -algebras for some time: see for example [4, 41, 29]. It thus seems fair
to say that weak decomposability is a common property of (simple) nuclear
C ˚ -algebras.
Non-example 1.4. In [19], Jaime and the first author show that any de-
composable C ˚ -algebra has torsion free K1 -group (following a suggestion of
Putnam). As there are Kirchberg algebras with any countable abelian group
as K1 -group [27, Theorem 3.6], there are Kirchberg algebras that are not
decomposable. In particular, weak decomposability is strictly weaker than
decomposability.
4
Main results
The main theorem of this paper is as follows.
Theorem 1.5. Say A is a separable, unital, decomposable C ˚ -algebra such

that K˚ pAq “ 0. Then A satisfies the UCT.
We discuss the proof in more detail below, but let us first say a little
about the connection to Kirchberg algebras. Recall that a C ˚ -algebra is a
Kirchberg algebra if it is separable, simple, nuclear, and purely infinite. We
recall the following theorem of Kirchberg: see [28, Corollary 8.4.6].
Theorem 1.6 (Kirchberg). To prove the UCT for all separable, nuclear C ˚ -
algebras, it suffices to prove the UCT for any unital Kirchberg algebra with
zero K-theory.
Theorems 1.5 and 1.6 imply that if any unital Kirchberg algebra with zero
K-theory is decomposable, then the UCT holds for all separable nuclear C ˚ -
algebras. Conversely, if the UCT holds for all separable nuclear C ˚ -algebras,
then from the Kirchberg-Phillips classification theorem [21, 26] (see also [28,
Corollary 8.4.2] for the statement we want here), any unital Kirchberg alge-
bra with zero K-theory will be isomorphic to O2 , and so decomposable by
Example 1.2.
Theorem 1.7. The following are equivalent:
(i) any unital Kirchberg algebra with zero K-theory is decomposable;
(ii) the UCT holds for all separable nuclear C ˚ -algebras.
Remarks on the proof of Theorem 1.5

The broad approach to Theorem 1.5 is inspired by the authors’ earlier work
on the Künneth formula [25, 37] (partly in collaboration with Oyono-Oyono).
Many aspects are quite different, however, due to the necessity of working
directly with KK-theory (rather than K-theory) in the current context.
5
The first key ingredient in the proof of Theorem 1.5 comes from our ear-
lier work [38]. There we define controlled KK-theory groups in the following
way. Assume that A and B are separable C ˚ -algebras, and assume for sim-
plicity that A is unital and nuclear. Let HB :“ `2 b B be the standard
Hilbert B-module. Using an infinite multiplicity, faithful, unital representa-
tion A Ď Bp`2 q Ď LpHB q, identify A with a subset of the C ˚ -algebra LpHB q
of adjointable operators on HB . For a finite subset X Ď A and ą 0, ˜ define
¸
1 0
P pX, Bq to be the set of projections in M2 pLpHB qq such that p ´
0 0
is in the compact operators KpHB q, and such that }rp, xs} ď for all x P X.
The associated controlled KK-theory group is then defined to be
KK0 pX, Bq :“ π0 pP pX, Bqq.
In [38, Section 6], we showed that there is a canonical isomorphism
KLpA, Bq – lim KK0 pX, Bq

Ð
between the KL-group of A and B (see [27, Section 5] for the original def-
inition of KLpA, Bq in the UCT case, and [10, Section 5] for the general
definition) and the inverse limit of our controlled KK-groups defined by
letting X get larger, and smaller.
Now, assume that A is a decomposable C ˚ -algebra with K˚ pAq “ 0 as in
the statement of Theorem 1.5. We want to show that KKpA, Aq “ 0. Using
a result of Dadarlat [10, Corollary 5.3], it suffices to show that KLpA, Aq “ 0,
and therefore that lim KK0 pX, Bq by the result above. Let then prpX, sqX,
Ð
be an element of this group. To show that this element is zero, it suffices
to show that for any and X there exists δ ď and Y Ě X such that the
natural “forget control map”
KKδ0 pY, Aq Ñ KK0 pX, Aq
induced by the inclusion Pδ pY, Bq Ď P pX, Bq takes rpY,δ s to zero.

To do this, we use decomposability and a Mayer-Vietoris argument: this
is the second key ingredient in the proof and the main content of the current
6
paper. Let h and Fh , F1´h , and F be as in the definition of decomposability
for the given set X and some very small parameter δ. Let Y be the union
of X and finite spanning sets for each of Fh , F1´h , and F . Then one can
construct a diagram
KKδ0 pY, Aq / KK 0 pFh , Aq ‘ KK 0 pF1´h , Aq (1)

KK 1 pF, Aq / KK0 pX, Aq
where the vertical arrow is the forget control map. This diagram has the
property that if rpY,δ s goes to zero under the map
KKδ0 pY, Aq Ñ KK 0 pFh , Aq ‘ KK 0 pF1´h , Aq
then the image of rpY,δ s under the forget control map KKδ0 pY, Aq Ñ KK0 pX, Aq
is in the image of the map
KK 1 pF, Aq Ñ KK0 pX, Aq.
However, as K˚ pAq “ 0, and as F , Fh , and F1´h are finite-dimensional, the

groups KK 1 pF, Aq and KK 0 pFh , Aq ‘ KK 0 pF1´h , Aq are both zero, so we
are done.
The argument above is directly inspired by the classical Mayer-Vietoris
principle. Indeed, assume that Fh and F1´h are finite-dimensional ideals in
A with intersection F , and such that A “ Fh ` F1´h (this is admittedly a
very restrictive set-up!). Then there is1 an exact Mayer-Vietoris sequence
¨ ¨ ¨ Ñ KK 1 pF, Aq Ñ KK 0 pA, Aq Ñ KK 0 pFh , Aq ‘ KK 0 pF1´h , Aq Ñ ¨ ¨ ¨ .
In particular if the groups at the left and right are zero, then the group in
the middle is also zero.
Our analysis of the diagram in line (1) is based on a concrete construction
of this classical Mayer-Vietoris sequence that can be adapted to our controlled
1
It is not in the literature as far as we can tell. It can be derived from the usual long
exact sequence in KK-theory using, for example, the argument of [39, Proposition 2.7.15].
7
setting: the basic idea has its roots in algebraic K-theory, going back at least
as far as [23, Chapter 2]. Having said this, there is significant work to be done
adapting these classical ideas to the analytic superstructure that we built in
[38], and the resulting formulas and arguments end up being quite different.
There is also an additional step, in that the Mayer-Vietoris construction
naturally builds a diagram analogous to line (1), but with all groups being
controlled KK-groups, not the usual KK-groups as appear on the left and
right of line (1). One can, however, replace the controlled KK-groups with
usual KK-groups using an averaging technique based on compactness of the
unitary groups of F , Fh , and F1´h .
The details of our argument look a little different from the discussion
above, but we hope this gives a rough idea of why Theorem 1.5 is true.
Notation and conventions

Throughout, the letters A and B are reserved for separable C ˚ -algebras. The
letter C will refer to a possibly non-separable C ˚ -algebra. The unit ball of C
is denoted by C1 , its unitization is C ` , and its multiplier algebra is M pCq.
We write `2 for `2 pNq.
Our conventions on Hilbert modules follow those of Lance [22]. We will
write HB “ `2 b B for the standard Hilbert B-module, and LB , respectively
KB , as shorthand for LpHB q, respectively KpHB q. We will typically identify
LB with the “diagonal subalgebra” 1Mn b LB of Mn b LB “ Mn pLB q. Thus
we might write “rx, ys” for the commutator of x P LB and y P Mn pLB q, when
to be completely correct we should write something like “r1Mn b x, ys”.
The symbol ‘b’ always denotes a completed tensor product: either the
(external or internal) tensor product of Hilbert modules (see [22, Chapter 4]
for background on this), or the minimal tensor product of C ˚ -algebras.
We will sometimes write 0n and 1n for the zero matrix and identity ma-
trix of size n when this seems helpful to avoid confusion, although we will
generally omit the subscripts to avoid clutter. If n ď m, we will also use
1n P Mm pCq for the rank n projection with n ones in the top-left part of
the diagonal and zeros elsewhere. Given an n ˆ n matrix a and and m ˆ m
8
matrix b, a ‘ b denotes the “block sum” pn ` mq ˆ pn ` mq matrix defined by
˜ ¸
a 0
a ‘ b :“ .
0 b
For K-theory, K˚ pAq :“ K0 pAq ‘ K1 pAq denotes the graded K-theory

group of a C ˚ -algebra, and KK ˚ pA, Bq :“ KK 0 pA, Bq ‘ KK 1 pA, Bq the
graded KK-theory group. We will typically just write KKpA, Bq instead
of KK 0 pA, Bq. We denote by KLpA, Bq the KL-group in the version of
Dadarlat [10, Section 5] that does not require the UCT (this agrees with the
original definition of Rørdam [27, Section 5] in the UCT case).
Outline of the paper

Section 2 discusses our controlled KK 0 -groups. We introduced these in [38],
but we need a technical variation here. This is essentially because in [38] we
were setting up general theory, and for this it was more natural to work with
projections in a fixed space. In this paper we are doing computations with
concrete algebraic formulas, where it is more convenient to work with gen-
eral idempotents, and to allow taking matrix algebras. Section 3 introduces
controlled KK 1 -groups in a concrete formulation using invertible operators:
in our earlier work [38] we (implicitly) defined controlled KK 1 -groups using
suspensions, but here we need the more concrete version.
Section 4 collects together some technical facts. These are all analogues
for controlled KK-theory of well-known results from K-theory: for example,
we prove “controlled versions” of the statements that homotopic idempotents
are similar, and that similar idempotents are homotopic (up to increasing
matrix sizes). We were inspired by the joint work of Oyono-Oyono and the
second author [24] on controlled K-theory for some arguments in this section.
Section 5 is the technical heart of the paper. Here we construct a ver-
sion of the “Mayer-Vietoris boundary map” for controlled KK-theory, and
prove that it has an exactness property. The construction is an analogue of
the usual index map of operator K-theory (see for example [30, Chapter 9]),
9
although concrete formulas for the Mayer-Vietoris boundary map unfortu-
nately seem to be missing from the C ˚ -algebra literature. The formulas we
use are instead inspired by classical formulas from algebraic K-theory [23,
Chapter 2], but heavily adapted to reflect our analytic setting.
The results of Section 5 essentially reduce showing our main vanishing
result for a decomposable C ˚ -algebra to showing a vanishing result for finite-
dimensional C ˚ -algebras. Section 6 then establishes the required vanishing
result for finite-dimensional C ˚ -algebras. This key point is to use an av-
eraging argument over finite-dimensional groups of unitaries to replace ap-
proximate commutativity with actual commutativity. Essentially, this iden-
tifies suitable controlled KK-groups, where the first variable spans a finite-
dimensional C ˚ -algebra, with honest KK-groups. Finally in the main body
of the paper, Section 7 puts everything together and gives the proof of The-
orem 1.5.
The paper concludes with Appendix A, which gives examples of decom-
posable C ˚ -algebras. We first use a technique of Winter and Zacharias [40,
Section 7] to show that the Cuntz alegbras On with n finite are decompos-
able. We then use our joint work with Guentner on dynamic asymptotic
dimension [17] to show that crossed products arising from Cantor minimal
systems are decomposable.
Acknowledgements
The authors were supported by the US NSF (DMS 1564281, DMS 1700021,
DMS 1901522, DMS 2000082) throughout the writing of this paper, and
gratefully acknowledge this support. We also thank Wilhelm Winter for
some helpful comments on a preliminary draft.
2 Controlled KK-groups in the even case

In this section (as throughout), B is a separable C ˚ -algebra, and LB and
KB are respectively the adjointable and compact operators on the standard
10
Hilbert B-module `2 b B. We identify LB with the “diagonal subalgebra”
1Mn b LB Ď Mn b LB “ Mn pLB q for each n.
Our goal in this section is to define a variant of the controlled KK-theory
groups of [38, Section 6]. We then show that taking this variant makes no
real difference, at least in the sense that an appropriate limit still gives KL-
groups.
Definition 2.1. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , let ě 0, let

κ ě 1. Let n P N and define Pn,κ, pX, Bq to be the collection of pairs pp, qq
`
of idempotents in Mn pKB q satisfying the following conditions:
(i) }p} ď κ and }q} ď κ;
(ii) }rp, xs} ď and }rq, xs} ď for all x P X;
(iii) the classes rσppqs, rσpqqs P K0 pCq defined by the images of p and q under
`
the canonical quotient map σ : Mn pKB q Ñ Mn pCq are the same.
If pp1 , q1 q is an element of Pn1 ,κ, pX, Bq and pp2 , q2 q is an element of Pn2 ,κ, pX, Bq,
define
˜˜ ¸ ˜ ¸¸
p1 0 q1 0
pp1 ‘ p2 , q1 ‘ q2 q :“ , P Pn1 `n2 ,κ, pX, Bq.
0 p2 0 q2
Define
8
ğ
P8,κ, pX, Bq :“ Pn,κ, pX, Bq,
n“1
i.e. P8,κ, pX, Bq is the disjoint union of all the 8

Ů
n“1 Pn,κ, pX, Bq.
Equip each Pn,κ, pX, Bq with the norm topology it inherits from Mn pLB q‘
Mn pLB q, and equip P8,κ, pX, Bq with the disjoint union topology. Let „ be
the equivalence relation on P8,κ, pX, Bq generated by the following relations:
(i) pp, qq „ pp ‘ r, q ‘ rq for any element pr, rq P P8,κ, pX, Bq with both
components the same;
11
(ii) pp1 , q1 q „ pp2 , q2 q whenever these elements are in the same path com-
ponent of P8,κ, pX, Bq.2
0
Finally, define KKκ, pX, Bq to be P8,κ, pX, Bq{ „.
The next lemma is essentially the same as [38, Lemma A.21].
Lemma 2.2. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , and let ě 0 and
0
κ ě 1. Then the semigroup KKκ, pX, Bq constructed above is an abelian
group with neutral element the class r0, 0s of the zero idempotent.
0
Proof. It is clear from the definition that KKκ, pX, Bq is a monoid with
identity element the class r0, 0s. A standard rotation homotopy shows that
0
KKκ, pX, Bq is commutative. To complete the proof we need to show that
any element rp, qs has an inverse. We claim that this is given by rq, ps.
Indeed, applying a rotation homotopy to the second variable shows that
pp ‘ q, q ‘ pq „ pp ‘ q, p ‘ qq, and the element pp ‘ q, p ‘ qq is trivial by
definition of the equivalence relation.
Say now Y and X are subsets of the unit ball of LB , ě 0, δ ě 0, κ ě 1

and λ ě 1 are such that
Pn,λ,δ pY, Bq Ď Pn,κ, pX, Bq (2)
for all n. Then we have a canonical forget control map

0 0
KKλ,δ pY, Bq Ñ KKκ, pX, Bq. (3)
The next lemma and corollary about idempotents are well-known. We

give proofs as we do not know a convenient reference.
Lemma 2.3. If p is an idempotent bounded operator on some Hilbert space

that is neither zero nor the identity, then }1 ´ p} “ }p} and }p ´ p˚ } ď }p}.
2
Equivalently, both are in the same Pn,κ, pX, Bq, and are in the same path component
of this set.
12
Proof. Split the Hilbert space p is acting on as H0 ‘ H1 , where H0 is the
image of p and H1 is its orthogonal complement (note that neither H0 nor
H1 are trivial, as p is neither 0 nor 1). With respect to this decomposition,
˜ ¸
p has matrix 10 a0 for some a P BpH1 , H0 q, and we see that
}p}2 “ }pp˚ } “ }1 ` aa˚ } “ 1 ` }a}2 .

˜ ¸
On the other hand, 1 ´ p has matrix 0
0
á
1
, whence
}1 ´ p}2 “ }p1 ´ pq˚ p1 ´ pq} “ }1 ` a˚ a} “ 1 ` }a}2 “ }p}2 .
Looking now at p ´ p˚ , we see that

˜ ¸˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
˚
0 a 0 á aa 0
pp ´ p˚ qpp ´ p˚ q˚ “ ˚ ˚
“ ,
á 0 a 0 0 a˚ a
whence }p ´ p˚ }2 “ }a}2 ď }p}2 .
Corollary 2.4. If κ ě 1, and p is any idempotent in a C ˚ -algebra with

}p} ď κ, then }1 ´ p} ď κ, }p ´ p˚ } ď κ, and }2p ´ 1} ď 2κ.
Proof. The estimates for }1 ´ p} and }p ´ p˚ } are immediate from Lemma 2.3
(and direct checks for the degenerate cases p “ 0 and p “ 1). The estimate
for 2p ´ 1 follows as 2p ´ 1 “ p ´ p1 ´ pq.
It will be convenient to formalize a standard construction in C ˚ -algebra

K-theory for turning idempotents into projections (see for example [2, Propo-
sition 4.6.2]).
Definition 2.5. Let p be an idempotent in a C ˚ -algebra C. Define z :“

1 ` pp ´ p˚ qpp˚ ´ pq P C ` , and note that z ě 1C ` so z is invertible. Define
r :“ pp˚ z ´1 , which is an element of C. We call r the projection3 associated
to p.
Lemma 2.6. Let p be an idempotent in a C ˚ -algebra C, and assume }p} ď κ

for some κ ě 1. Let r be the projection associated to p as in Definition 2.5,
and for t P r0, 1s define rt :“ p1 ´ tqp ` tr. Then the following hold:
3
It will be shown to be a projection in the next lemma.
13
(i) The element r is a projection that satisfies rp “ p and pr “ r.
(ii) Each rt is an idempotent such that }rt } ď κ for all t, and the map
t ÞÑ rt is κ-Lipschitz.
(iii) If X is a self-adjoint subset4 of C1 such that }rp, xs} ď for all x P X,

then }rrt , xs} ď 8κ3 for all t.
(iv) If Iκ “ tp P C | p2 “ p, }p} ď κu, then the map Iκ Ñ I1 that takes p to

its associated projection is 6κ3 -Lipschitz.
Proof. Part (i) is contained in the proof of e.g. [2, Proposition 4.6.2], but we
give the details for the reader’s convenience. We compute that pz “ pp˚ p “
zp, whence also p˚ commutes with z, and both p and p˚ commute with z ´1
as well. Hence if r “ pp˚ z ´1 we have
r2 “ pp˚ z ´1 pp˚ z ´1 “ z ´1 ppp˚ pqp˚ z ´1 “ pp˚ z ´1 “ r,
so r is an idempotent. It is self-adjoint as z ´1 and pp˚ are, and these el-
ements commute. Moreover, we have pr “ p2 p˚ z ´1 “ pp˚ z ´1 “ r, and
rp “ pp˚ z ´1 p “ pp˚ pz ´1 “ pzz ´1 “ p.
For part (ii), using that rp “ p and pr “ r we compute
rt2 “ p1 ´ 2t ` t2 qp2 ` p1 ´ tqtpr ` p1 ´ tqtrp ` t2 r2 “ p1 ´ tqp ` tr “ rt ,
so each rt is an idempotent. Each rt has norm at most κ as it is a convex
combination of elements with norm at most κ. To see the claimed Lipschitz
property, note that with notation as in the proof of Lemma 2.3, we may
˜ ¸
write p as a matrix 10 a0 where }a} ď κ. With respect to this notation,
˜ ¸
one computes that rt equals 10 p1 ´0 tqa , from which the claimed Lipschitz
property follows.
For part (iii), note first that as X is self-adjoint, we see that for any
x P X,
}rz, xs} ď }p}}rp˚ , xs} ` }rp, xs}}p˚ } ` }1 ´ p˚ }}rx, 1 ´ ps} ` }r1 ´ p˚ , xs}}1 ´ p}
ď κ}rp, x˚ s} ` }rp, xs}κ ` pκ ` 1q}rx, ps} ` }rp, x˚ s}p1 ` κq
ď p4κ ` 2q}x}.
4
We mean here that X ˚ “ X, not the stronger condition that for all x P X, x “ x˚ .
14
Moreover as z ě 1 we have }z ´1 } ď 1. Hence for any x P X,
}rz ´1 , xs} “ }z ´1 rz, xsz ´1 } ď p4κ ` 2q}x}.
Hence for any x P X,
}rr, xs} ď }rp, xs}}p˚ }}z ´1 } ` }rp˚ , xs}}p}}z ´1 } ` }rz ´1 , xs}}p}}p˚ }

ď 2κ}x} ` κ2 p4κ ` 2q}x}.
As X consists of contractions and as κ ě 1, this is bounded above by 8κ3 ,

so we are done with the estimate for r. The case of rt follows from this, as
rt is a convex combination of r and p.
For part (iv), we compute that if p, q P Ik with associated projections
r “ pp˚ zp´1 and s “ qq ˚ zq´1 , then
}r ´ s} ď }pp ´ qqp˚ zp´1 } ` }qpp˚ ´ q ˚ qzp´1 } ` }qq ˚ pzp´1 ´ zq´1 q}. (4)
As }zp´1 } ď 1 and }zq´1 } ď 1, we may apply Corollary 2.4 to get
}zp´1 ´ zq´1 } ď }zp´1 }}zq ´ zp }}zq´1 }

ď }pp ´ p˚ qpp˚ ´ pq ´ pq ´ q ˚ qpq ˚ ´ qq}
ď }pp ´ p˚ q ´ pq ´ q ˚ q}}p˚ ´ p} ` }q ´ q ˚ }}pp˚ ´ pq ´ pq ˚ ´ qq}
ď 4κ}p ´ q}.
Combining this with line (4), we thus get
}r ´ s} ď p2κ ` 4κ3 q}p ´ q}.
As κ ě 1, this implies the desired estimate.

Lemma 2.7. Let κ ě 1, ě 0 and assume δ P r0, {p8κ3 qs. Let λ P r1, κs
and let X be a self-adjoint subset of the unit ball of LB . Then there is a
˚ ˚
homomorphism φ˚ : KKκ,δ pX, Bq Ñ KKλ, pX, Bq such that the diagram
below
KKλ,δ0
pX, Bq / KK 0 pX, Bq
κ,δ
φ˚
(
0
KKλ, pX, Bq
15
commutes, where the horizontal and diagonal arrows are the forget control
maps of line (3).
Proof. Let pp, qq be an element of Pn,λ,δ pX, Bq. Let r and s be the projections
associated to p and q respectively as in Definition 2.5. Using Lemma 2.6 parts
(i) and (iii), and the fact that δ ď {p8κ3 q, we may define a map
φ : Pn,κ,δ pX, Bq Ñ Pn,λ, pX, Bq, pp, qq ÞÑ pr, sq.
Allowing n to vary, and noting that the process of taking associated projec-
tions takes homotopies to homotopies (by part (iv) of Lemma 2.6) and block
sums to block sums, we get a well-defined homomorphism
0 0
φ˚ : KKκ,δ pX, Bq Ñ KKλ, pX, Bq.
It remains to consider commutativity of the diagram
0
KKλ,δ pX, Bq / 0
KKκ,δ pX, Bq .
φ˚
(
0
KKλ, pX, Bq
For this, it suffices to show that if pr, sq P Pn,λ, pX, Bq is constructed from
pp, qq P Pn,λ,δ pX, Bq Ď Pn,κ,δ pX, Bq as above, then pr, sq and pp, qq are in the
same path component of Pn,λ, pX, Bq. This follows from parts (ii) and (iii)
of Lemma 2.6.
For the remainder of this section, we introduce a second C ˚ -algebra A.

We assume that A is separable and unital. Let π : A Ñ LB be a unitally ab-
sorbing representation as in [34, Definition 2.2], which exists by [34, Theorem
2.4]. We use this representation to identify A with a subset of LB .
Definition 2.8. Fix κ ě 1. Let Xκ denote the set of all pairs pX, q where
X is a finite subset of A1 , and ą 0. Put a partial order on X by stipulating
that pX, q ď pY, δq if the relation in line (2) holds (with λ “ κ).
16
Analogously to [38, Remark 6.7], the set Xκ is directed: an upper bound
for pX1 , 1 q and pX2 , 2 q is given by pX1 YX2 , mint1 , 2 uq. The forgetful maps
0
in line (3) therefore turn the collection pKKκ, pX, BqqpX,qPXκ into an inverse
0
system, so we may form the inverse limit lim KKκ, pX, Bq. The next result
Ð
is our last goal in this section.
Proposition 2.9. Let A be a separable and unital C ˚ -algebra, identified with

a subset of LB via a unitally absorbing representation. Then any κ ě 1, there
is an isomorphism
0
lim KKκ, pX, Bq – KLpA, Bq
Ð
where the inverse limit is taken over the directed set Xκ of Definition 2.8.
Proof. Using Lemma 2.7 we can build an increasing sequence pXn q of finite
subsets of A1 with dense union, and a decreasing sequence pn q of positive
numbers that tend to zero such that there is a commutative ladder diagram
/ 0
KKκ, pXn , Bq / KK 0 / / KK 0
¨¨¨ κ,n´1 pXn´1 , Bq ¨¨¨ κ,1 pX1 , Bq ,
n
O pnq O pn´1q
p1q
φ˚
O
φ˚ φ˚
) ' %
/ 0
KK1, pXn , Bq / 0
KK1, pXn´1 , Bq / / KK 0
¨¨¨ n n´1
¨¨¨ 1,1 pX1 , Bq
pnq
where the maps φ˚ are those from Lemma 2.7. It follows from this that
0 0
lim KKκ, pX, Bq – lim KK1, pX, Bq.
Ð Ð
In the notation of [38, Section A.2], it is straightforward to check that

0
lim KK1, pX, Bq – lim KKπ,m pX, Bq
Ð Ð
and the last limit on the right is isomorphic to KLpA, Bq by [38, Lemma
A.25].
3 Controlled KK-groups in the odd case

17
Our goal in this section is to introduce an odd parity version of the
controlled KK-theory groups of the previous section.
Definition 3.1. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , and let ě 0 and
κ ě 1. Let n P N, and define Un,κ, pX, Bq to be the subset of those invertible
`
elements u in Mn pKB q satisfying the following conditions:
(i) }u} ď κ and }u´1 } ď κ;
(ii) }ru, xs} ď and }ru´1 , xs} ď for all a P X.
If u1 is an element of Un1 ,κ, pX, Bq and u2 is an element of Un2 ,κ, pX, Bq,
define ˜ ¸
u1 0
u1 ‘ u2 :“ P Un1 `n2 ,κ, pX, Bq.
0 u2
Define
8
ğ
U8,κ, pX, Bq :“ Un,κ, pX, Bq,
n“1
i.e. U8,κ, pX, Bq is the disjoint union of all the 8

Ů
n“1 Un,κ, pX, Bq.
Equip each Un,κ, pX, Bq with the norm topology it inherits from Mn pLB q,
and equip 8
Ů
n“1 Un,κ, pX, Bq with the disjoint union topology. Define an
equivalence relation on U8,κ, pX, Bq to be generated by the following rela-
tions:
(i) for any k P N, if 1k P Uk,κ, pX, Bq is the identity element, then u „

u ‘ 1k ;
(ii) u1 „ u2 if both are elements of the same path component of U8,2κ, pX, Bq.5
1
Finally, define KKκ, pX, Bq to be U8,κ, pX, Bq{ „.
5
Equivalently, both are in the same Un,2κ, pX, Bq, and are in the same path component
of this set. Notice also the switch from κ to 2κ, which is needed for our proof that
1
KKκ, pX, Bq is a group.
18
Lemma 3.2. Let X be a subset of LB , and let ě 0 and κ ě 1. Then the
1
semigroup KKκ, pX, Bq constructed above is an abelian group with neutral
element the class r1s of the unit.
1
Proof. It is clear that KKκ, pX, Bq is a monoid, and the class r1s is neutral
1
by definition. A standard rotation homotopy shows that KKκ, pX, Bq is
commutative. It remains to show that inverses exist. We claim that for
u P Un,κ, pX, Bq, the inverse of the class rus is given by ru´1 s. Indeed, consider
the homotopy
˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸
u 0 cosptq ´ sinptq 1 0 cosptq sinptq
ut :“ ´1
, t P r0, π{2s.
0 1 sinptq cosptq 0 u ´ sinptq cosptq
This connects u ‘ u´1 and 12k , so it suffices to show that this passes through
U2n,2κ, pX, Bq. For the commutator condition, we compute that for x P X,
˜ ¸˜ ¸
rx, us 0 cos2 ptq cosptq sinptq
rx, ut s “ .
0 ru´1 , as cosptq sinptq ´ cos2 ptq
The scalar matrix on the right has norm | cosptq|, and the matrix on the left
has norm at most maxt}rx, us}, }rx, u´1 s}u ď , so }rx, ut s} ď . For the norm
condition, we compute that
˜ ¸˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
u 0 cos2 ptq cosptq sinptq sin2 ptq ´ cosptq sinptq
ut “ ` .
0 ú´1 cosptq sinptq ´ cos2 ptq cosptq sinptq sin2 ptq
The first scalar matrix appearing above has norm | cosptq|, and the second
has norm | sinptq|. We thus have that }ut } ď κ| cosptq| ` | sinptq|, which is at
most6 2κ as required.
It will be technically convenient to also have a graded version that com-

bines the controlled KK 0 and KK 1 groups.
6
We suspect the “correct” estimate is κ – this is the case if u is normal, for example –
?
but were unable to do better than 1 ` κ2 in general.
19
Definition 3.3. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , and let ě 0 and
κ ě 1. Define
˚ 0 1
KKκ, pX, Bq :“ KKκ, pX, Bq ‘ KKκ, pX, Bq.
Analogously to the case of KK 0 discussed in line (3) above, if Y and X
are subsets of LB , ě 0, δ ě 0, κ ě 1, and λ ě 1 are such that
Un,λ,δ pY, Bq Ď Un,κ, pX, Bq and Un,2λ,δ pY, Bq Ď Un,2κ, pX, Bq (5)
for all n, then we have a canonical forget control map
1 1
KKλ,δ pY, Bq Ñ KKκ, pX, Bq. (6)
Similarly, for appropriate Y , X, ě 0, δ ě 0, κ ě 1, and λ ě 1 and with
notation as in Definition 3.3 we get a forget control map
˚ ˚
KKλ,δ pY, Bq Ñ KKκ, pX, Bq (7)
by combining the maps in lines (3) and (6).
4 Homotopies, similarities, and normalization

We will need some technical lemmas about the controlled KK-groups
i
KKκ, pX, Bq. These are all variants of standard facts from C ˚ -algebra K-
theory, but the arguments are more involved as we need to do extra work to
control commutator estimates. The ideas of controlled K-theory as developed
by the second author and Oyono-Oyono are very useful for this [24].
4.1 From similarities to homotopies

The following result is an analogue of the standard K-theoretic fact that
similar idempotents are homotopic, at least up to to increasing matrix sizes
(compare for example [2, Proposition 4.4.1]).
20
Proposition 4.1. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , κ ě 1, and ě 0.
Let pp0 , qq and pp1 , qq be elements of Pn,κ, pX, Bq, and let u P Un,κ, pX, Bq be
such that up0 u´1 “ p1 . Then the elements pp0 ‘0n , q‘0n q and pp1 ‘0n , q‘0n q
are in the same path component of P2n,κ3 ,3κ2 pX, Bq, and in particular, pp0 , qq
and pp1 , qq define the same class in KKκ03 ,3κ2 pX, Bq.
The analogous statement holds with the roles of the first and second com-
ponents reversed.
Proof. Define
˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸
cosptq ´ sinptq 1 0 cosptq sinptq `
vt :“ P M2n pKB q.
sinptq cosptq 0 u ´ sinptq cosptq
Then the path
t ÞÑ pvt pp0 ‘ 0n qvt´1 , q ‘ 0n q, t P r0, π{2s
connects pp0 ‘ 0n , q ‘ 0n q to pp1 ‘ 0n , q ‘ 0n q through P2n,κ3 ,3κ2 pX, Bq. We

leave the direct checks involved to the reader.
4.2 Normalization
0
Our goal in this subsection is to show that we can assume cycles of KKκ, pX, Bq
1
and KKκ, pX, Bq have prescribed “scalar part”, at least up to some deteri-
oration of κ and . This will be important for our Mayer-Vietoris boundary
maps later in the paper.
Lemma 4.2. Let κ ě 1, and let C be a unital C ˚ -algebra. Let p, q P C

be idempotents such that }p} ď κ and }q} ď κ, and assume there exists an
invertible v P C with vpv ´1 “ q. Then there exists an invertible u P C with
upu´1 “ q, and }u} ď κ2 and }u´1 } ď κ2 .
Proof. Let r be the associated projection for p as in Definition 2.5. Using the
formulas in Lemma 2.6 part (i), we see that yp1 ´ p ` rq “ p1 ´ p ` rqy “ 1, so
y is invertible with inverse y ´1 “ 1 ´ p ` r. Using Lemma 2.6 part (i) again,
p1 ´ rqp “ 0, whence p˚ p1 ´ rq “ 0 also. Hence y ˚ y “ p1 ´ rq ` p˚ p. As p1 ´ rq
21
and p˚ p are orthogonal positive elements, }y ˚ y} “ maxt}1 ´ r}, }p˚ p}u ď κ2 ,
so }y} ď κ. We see similarly that y ´1 py ´1 q˚ “ p1 ´ pqp1 ´ pq˚ ` r. Corollary
2.4 gives that }1 ´ p} ď κ, so }y ´1 } ď κ similarly. Applying the same process
to q gives the associated projection s and an invertible x with s :“ xqx´1
a projection and such that }x} ď κ and }x´1 } ď κ. As p and q are similar
idempotents, r and s are similar projections, whence [3, Proposition 4.6.5]
gives a unitary w such that wrw˚ “ s. The invertible u :“ x´1 wy has the
claimed property.
The following lemma is well-known without the Lipschitz condition: see

for example [2, Theorem 4.6.7] or [18, Corollary 4.1.8].
Lemma 4.3. Let L ą 0. Then if ppt qtPr0,1s is an L-Lipschitz path of projec-
tions in a unital C ˚ -algebra C, there is a p46 Lq-Lipschitz path put qtPr0,1s of
unitaries in C such that u0 “ 1, and such that pt “ ut p0 u˚t for all t P r0, 1s.
We need a preliminary lemma.
Lemma 4.4. Let κ ě 1. Let C be a unital C ˚ -algebra and let Cκ´1 be the set
of positive invertible elements c P C such that κ´1 ď c ď κ. Then the map
Cκ´1 Ñ C?
´1
κ
, c ÞÑ c´1{2
is p8κ4 q-Lipschitz.
Proof. Let γ be the contour in the complex plane that has winding number
one around all points in the interval rκ´1 , κs, and that stays exactly at dis-
tance 1{p2κq away from this interval. Note that γ has length at most 6κ,
and lies in the half-plane tz P C | Repzq ě 1{p2κqu. Let f : tz P C | Repzq ą
0u Ñ C be the holomorphic function that extends the function x ÞÑ x´1{2
defined on p0, 8q. If c, d P Cκ´1 , the holomorphic functional calculus gives
that ż
´1{2 ´1{2 1
c ´d “ f pzqppz ´ cq´1 ´ pz ´ dq´1 qdz.
2πi γ
Using the identity pz ´ cq´1 ´ pz ´ dq´1 “ pz ´ cq´1 pc ´ dqpz ´ dq´1 , we
therefore see that
1
}c´1{2 ´d´1{2 } ď Lengthpγq sup |f pzq|}pzćq´1 }}pz´dq´1 }}c´d}. (8)
2π zPImagepγq
22
As c has spectrum contained in rκ´1 , κs, and as γ stays at least 1{p2κq
away from that interval, the continuous functional calculus implies that
}pz ´ cq´1 } ď 2κ for z in the image of γ, and similarly for d. As the length of
γ is at most 6κ and as the largest value |f | takes on the image of γ is p2κq1{2 ,
we see from line (8) that
1
}c´1{2 ´ d´1{2 } ď 6κ ¨ p2κq1{2 ¨ 2κ ¨ 2κ}c ´ d},
2π
which completes the proof.
Proof of Lemma 4.3. Let 0 “ t0 ă t1 ă ¨ ¨ ¨ ă tN “ 1 be a partition of the

interval r0, 1s such that for each i P t0, ..., N ´ 1u and each s, t P rti , ti`1 s,
we have }ps ´ pt } ď 1{2. It will suffice to prove that for each i there is an
piq piq
p46 Lq-Lipschitz path of unitaries pwt qtPrti ,ti`1 s such that wti “ 1 and such
piq piq
that pt “ wt pti pwt q˚ for all t P rti , ti`1 s. Indeed, if we can do this, then the
path put qtPr0,1s which is defined on each subinterval rti , ti`1 s by the formula
piq pi´1q p0q
ut :“ wt wti´1 ¨ ¨ ¨ wt1 , t P rti , ti`1 s
will be p46 Lq-Lipschitz, and will satisfy pt “ ut p0 u˚t .

Let us then focus on the interval r0, t1 s, and construct an appropriate path
p0q
pwt qtPr0,t1 s . Applying the same construction to each subinterval rti , ti`1 s
p0q
will suffice to complete the proof. We will just write wt instead of wt for
notational simplicity.
For t P r0, t1 s, define xt :“ pt p0 ` p1 ´ pt qp1 ´ p0 q. Then by assumption
on t1 ,
}xt ´ 1} “ }p2pt ´ 1qpp0 ´ pt q} ď }2pt ´ 1}}p0 ´ pt } ď 1{2,
and so each xt is invertible, }xt } ď 2, and also }x´1 t } ď 2 by the usual

Neumann series formula for the inverse. One computes that xt p0 “ pt p0 “
pt xt , and so xt p0 x´1 ˚ ˚ ˚ ˚
t “ pt . Moreover, p0 xt “ xt pt , and so p0 xt xt “ xt pt xt “
x˚t xt p0 , i.e. x˚t xt commutes with p0 . If we define wt :“ xt px˚t xt q´1{2 , we have
that wt is unitary and moreover
wt p0 wt´1 “ xt px˚t xt q´1{2 p0 px˚t xt q1{2 x´1 ´1

t “ xt p 0 x t “ p t .
23
It remains to show that the path r0, t1 s Ñ C defined by t ÞÑ wt is p46 Lq-
Lipschitz.
We first note that for s, t P r0, t1 s, we have that
}xs ´ xt } ď }pt ´ ps }}p0 } ` }ps ´ pt }}1 ´ p0 } ď 2L|s ´ t|
by assumption that ppt q is L-Lipschitz. Using that }xt } ď 2, this implies that
the map t ÞÑ x˚t xt is at most p8Lq-Lipschitz. As }xt } ď 2 and }x´1 t } ď 2, we
˚
have that 1{4 ď xt xt ď 4. Hence Lemma 4.4 (with κ “ 4) implies that the
path t ÞÑ px˚t xt q´1{2 is p8 ¨ 44 Lq-Lipschitz. Finally, this implies that the path
t ÞÑ wt is at most p8 ¨ 44 L ` 2Lq-Lipschitz, and we are done.
Recall that for l P t1, ..., nu, we let 1l P Mn pCq be the rank l projection
with l ones in the top-left part of the diagonal and zeros elsewhere.
Definition 4.5. With notation as in Definition 2.1, define

# +
1 pp, qq P Pn,κ, pX, Bq Dl P N such that pp, qq ´ p1 ,
l l1 q
Pn,κ, pX, Bq :“ .
is in Mn pKB q ‘ Mn pKB q
1
Define P8,κ, pX, Bq to be the disjoint union of these sets as n ranges over N.
Here is the first of our main goals for this subsection: it allows control of
0
the “scalar part” of cycles for KKκ, pX, Bq.
Proposition 4.6. Let X be a self-adjoint subset of the unit ball of LB , let

ě 0, κ ě 1, L ě 1, and let n P N.
(i) Any element v P Pn,κ, pX, Bq is in the same path component of Pn,κ5 , pX, Bq
1
as an element of Pn,κ 5 , pX, Bq.
1
(ii) If two elements pp0 , q0 q and pp1 , q1 q of Pn,κ, pX, Bq are connected by an
L-Lipschitz path in Pn,κ, pX, Bq, then they are connected by a p49 κ3 Lq-
1
Lipschitz path in Pn,κ,8κ 3 pX, Bq.
Before establishing this, it will be convenient to record an elementary

lemma that we use multiple times below.
24
Lemma 4.7. For any κ ě 1, the set tu P GLn pCq | }u} ď κ and }u´1 } ď κu
is path connected.
Proof. Let u be an element of the given set. Define first
ut :“ upu˚ uq´t , t P r0, 1{2s,
so u0 “ u and u1{2 is unitary. Moreover for all t P r0, 1{2s,
}ut }2 “ }pu˚ uq´t u˚ upu˚ uq´t } “ }u˚ u}1´2t ď }u}2
2 ´1 2
by the C ˚ -identity and the functional calculus. We see }u´1 t } ď }u }
similarly. Using that the unitary group of Mn pCq is connected, connect u1{2
to the identity by a path of unitaries put qtPr1{2,1s . The concatenated path
put qtPr0,1s then connects u to the identity and passes through the set in the
statement.
`
Proof of Proposition 4.6. Let σ : Mn pKB q Ñ Mn pCq be the canonical quo-
tient map. For part (i), as pp, qq is in Pn,κ, pX, Bq, the classes rσppqs and
rσpqqs in K0 pCq are the same. Hence there is l P N such that σppq and σpqq
both have rank l, and so there exist invertible elements u, v P Mn pCq such
that uσppqu´1 “ 1l and such that vσpqqv ´1 “ 1l . Moreover, by Lemma 4.2,
we may assume that }u} ď κ2 and }v} ď κ2 , and similarly for u´1 and v ´1 .
Using Lemma 4.7, we get paths put qtPr0,1s and pvt qtPr0,1s of invertibles in
Mn pCq connecting u and v respectively to the identity, and such that all
elements of these paths and their inverses have norm at most κ2 . To com-
plete the proof, consider the path pput pu´1 ´1
t , vt qvt qqtPr0,1s . As scalar matrices
commute with X, this passes through Pn,κ5 , pX, Bq, and connects pp, qq to
1
an element of Pn,κ 5 , pX, Bq as claimed.
For part (ii), say pp0 , q0 q and pp1 , q1 q are as given. Then there exists l P N
such that σpp0 q “ σpq0 q “ 1l “ σpp1 q “ σpq1 q. Let r0 be the projection
associated to p0 as in Definition 2.5. As in Lemma 2.6, part (ii), the path
t ÞÑ p1 ´ tqp0 ` tr0 , t P r0, 1s is κ-Lipschitz and connects p0 and r0 through
idempotents of norm at most κ. Moreover, Lemma 2.6, part (iii) implies that
}rp1 ´ tqp0 ` tr0 , xs} ď 8κ3 for all x P X and all t P r0, 1s. Note also that
25
σpp1 ´ tqp0 ` tr0 q “ 1l for all t. Similarly, we get s0 which has the same
properties with respect to q0 . We have thus shown that pp0 , q0 q is connected
1
to the element pr0 , s0 q via a κ-Lipschitz path in Pn,κ,8κ 3 pX, Bq. Completely
analogously, pp1 , q1 q is connected to its associated projection pr1 , s1 q via a

1
κ-Lipschitz path in Pn,κ,8κ 3 pX, Bq. Moreover, using Lemma 2.5, part (iv),
we have that pr0 , s0 q and pr1 , s1 q are connected by a p6κ3 Lq-Lipschitz path
of projections in Pn,1,8κ3 pX, Bq, say pprt , st qqtPr0,1s .
Now, consider the path pσprt q, σpst qqtPr0,1s in Mn pCq ‘ Mn pCq, which is
p6κ Lq-Lipschitz. Lemma 4.3 gives p46 ¨ 6κ3 Lq-Lipschitz paths put qtPr0,1s and
3
pvt qtPr0,1s of unitaries in Mn pCq such that σprt q “ ut σpr0 qu˚t and σpst q “
vt σps0 qvt˚ for all t P r0, 1s. The path ppu˚t rt ut , vt˚ st vt qqtPr0,1s then passes
1 6 3
through Pn,1,8κ 3 pX, Bq, is p2 ¨ 4 ¨ 6κ Lq-Lipschitz, and connects pr0 , s0 q to
pu˚1 r1 u1 , v1˚ s1 v1 q.
Summarizing where we are, we have the following paths
1
(i) A κ-Lipschitz path through Pn,κ,8κ 3 pX, Bq, parametrized by r0, 1s, and
that connects pp0 , q0 q and pr0 , s0 q.
(ii) A p2 ¨ 46 ¨ 6κ3 Lq-Lipschitz path through Pn,1,8κ

1
3 pX, Bq, parametrized
by r0, 1s, and that connects pr0 , s0 q and pu1 r1 u1 , v1˚ s1 v1 q.

˚
1
(iii) A κ-Lipschitz path through Pn,κ,8κ 3 pX, Bq, parametrized by r0, 1s, and
that connects pp1 , q1 q and pr1 , s1 q.

1
We claim that there is a 2π-Lipschitz path passing through Pn,1,8κ 3 pX, Bq,
˚ ˚
parametrized by r0, 1s and connecting pu1 r1 u1 , v1 s1 v1 q and pr1 , s1 q. Concate-
nating with the three paths above (and using that κ ě 1 and that L ě 1), this
will give us a p49 κ3 Lq-Lipschitz path connecting pp0 , q0 q and pp1 , q1 q through
1
Pn,1,8κ 3 pX, Bq, which will complete the proof.
To establish the claim note that u1 commutes with 1l , and is therefore

connected to the identity in Mn pCq via a π-Lipschitz path of unitaries that all
commute with 1l , say put qtPr1,2s . Similarly, we get a π-Lipschitz path pvt qtPr1,2s
with the same properties with respect to v1 . The path ppu˚t r1 ut , vt˚ s1 vt qqtPr1,2s
1 ˚ ˚
then passes through Pn,1,8κ 3 pX, Bq, is 2π-Lipschitz, and connects pu1 r1 u1 , v1 s1 v1 q
to pr1 , s1 q, so we are done.
26
We now move on to controlling the “scalar part” of cycles for KK 1 .
Definition 4.8. With notation as in Definition 3.1, define

1
Un,κ, pX, Bq :“ tu P Un,κ, pX, Bq | u ´ 1 P Mn pKB qu.
1
Define U8,κ, pX, Bq to be the disjoint union of these sets as n ranges over N.
Proposition 4.9. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , let ě 0, let

κ ě 1, and let n P N.
(i) Any element v P Un,κ, pX, Bq is in the same path component of Un,κ2 , pX, Bq
1
as an element of Un,κ 2 , pX, Bq.
1
(ii) If two elements v0 , v1 P Un,κ, pX, Bq are in the same path component of
1
Un,κ, pX, Bq, then they are in the same path component of Un,κ 2 , pX, Bq.
`
Proof. For part (i), let σ : Mn pKB q Ñ Mn pCq be the canonical quotient, and
´1
set w “ σpu q. Using Lemma 4.7, there is a path pwt qtPr0,1s of invertibles
connecting w “ w1 to the identity and all with norm at most κ. Then the
path pwt vqtPr0,1s is in Un,κ2 , pX, Bq and connects v to the element u :“ w1 v,
which satisfies σpuq “ 1, and so 1 ´ u P Mn pKB q.
For part (ii), let pvt qtPr0,1s be a path in Un,κ, pX, Bq connecting v0 and
v1 . Let wt “ σpvt´1 q, and note that w0 “ w1 “ 1. Moreover, }wt } ď κ for
1
all t. Then ut :“ wt vt is a path connecting v0 and v1 in Un,κ 2 , pX, Bq as
required.
4.3 From homotopies to similarities

Our goal in this subsection is to give a controlled version of the standard K-
theoretic fact that homotopic idempotents are similar (compare for example
[2, Proposition 4.3.2]). This requires some work, as we need to control the
“speed” of the homotopy in order to control the commutation properties of
the invertible appearing in the similarity. The final target is Proposition 4.13
below: the other results build up to it.
27
Lemma 4.10. Let κ ě 1, and let p0 and p1 be idempotents in a C ˚ -algebra
C with norm at most κ, and such that }p0 ´ p1 } ď 1{p12κ2 q. Then there is
a path ppt qtPr0,1s of idempotents connecting p0 and p1 , and with the following
properties:
(i) each pt is an idempotent in C of norm at most 2κ;
(ii) if c P C and δ ą 0 are such that }rc, p0 s} ď δ and }rc, p1 s} ď δ, then

}rc, qt s} ď 21κ2 δ for all t P r0, 1s;
(iii) the function t ÞÑ qt is 1-Lipschitz.
Proof. For each t P r0, 1s, define rt :“ p1 ´ tqp0 ` tp1 P C, and define ut :“
p1 ´ rt qp1 ´ p0 q ` rt p0 P C ` . We compute that 1 ´ ut “ p2p0 ´ 1qpp0 ´ rt q.
Hence by Corollary 2.4, }1 ´ ut } ď 2κ}p0 ´ p1 } ď 1{6. Hence ut is invertible,
}ut } ď 7{6, and (by the usual Neumann series representation of the inverse),
}u´1 ´1
t } ď 6{5. We thus see that each pt :“ ut p0 ut is a well-defined idempotent
in C. We claim that the path ppt qtPr0,1s has the desired properties. Note
first that r0 “ p0 , whence u0 “ 1, and so q0 “ p0 . On the other hand,
u1 p0 “ r1 p0 “ p1 p0 “ p1 u1 . Hence u1 p0 u´1 1 “ p1 . Thus the path ppt q really
does connect p0 and p1 .
For part (i), note that as ut p0 “ rt p0 , we get
1 6 6
}pt } “ }rt p0 u´1 ´1 ´1
t } ď }prt ´ p0 qp0 ut } ` }p0 ut } ď 2
κ ` κ ď 2κ.
12κ 5 5
For part (ii), we compute using the identity 1 ´ ut “ p2p0 ´ 1qpp0 ´ rt q that
}rut , cs} “ }r1 ´ ut , cs} ď }r2p0 ´ 1, cs}}p0 ´ rt } ` }2p0 ´ 1}}rp0 ´ rt , cs}

ď 2}rp0 , cs}}p0 ´ rt } ` }2p0 ´ 1}p}rp0 , cs} ` }rrt , cs}q.
Corollary 2.4 implies that }2p0 ´ 1} ď 2κ and so the above implies

1 ´ 1 ¯
}rut , cs} ď 2δ ` 2κ ¨ 2δ “ 4κ ` 2 δ.
12κ2 6κ
Hence also
36 ´ 1 ¯
}ru´1 ´1 ´1
t , cs} “ }ut rc, ut sut } ď 4κ ` 2 δ}c}
25 6κ
28
and so
}rpt , cs} “ }rut p0 u´1

t , cs}
ď }rut , cs}}p0 }}u´1 ´1 ´1

t } ` }ut }}rp0 , cs}}ut } ` }ut }}p0 }}rut , cs}
´ 1 ¯ 6 7 7 36 ´ 1 ¯
ď 4κ ` 2 δκ ` δ ` κ 4κ ` 2 δ
6κ 5 5 6 25 6κ
2
ď 21κ δ
as claimed. Finally, for part (iii), we compute using Corollary 2.4 that
1
}us ´ ut } “ }p2p0 ´ 1qprs ´ rt q} ď }2p0 ´ 1}|s ´ t|}p0 ´ p1 } ď 2κ|s ´ t|
12κ2
1
“ |s ´ t|
6κ
and so
36 1 6
}u´1 ´1 ´1 ´1
s ´ ut } “ }ut put ´ us qus } ď |s ´ t| “ |s ´ t|.
25 6κ 25κ
Hence
}pt ´ ps } ď }put ´ us qp0 u´1 ´1 ´1

t } ` }us p0 put ´ us q}
1 6 7 6
ď |s ´ t|κ ` κ |s ´ t|
6κ 5 6 25κ
ď |s ´ t|
as claimed.
The next lemma allows us to control the “speed” of a homotopy (at the
price of moving to larger matrices). The basic idea is not new: see for
example [24, Proposition 1.31]. We give a complete proof, however, as we
need to incorporate commutator estimates.
Lemma 4.11. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , ě 0, and n P N. Say

pp0 , q0 q and pp1 , q1 q are in the same path component of Pn,κ, pX, Bq. Then
there is k P N and a homotopy pprt , st qqtPr0,1s in Pp2k`1qn,2κ,21κ2 pX, Bq such
that pri , si q “ ppi ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk , qi ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk q for i P t0, 1u, and such that the
map t ÞÑ prt , st q is p16κq-Lipschitz.
29
Proof. Let ppt , qt q be an arbitrary homotopy in Pn,κ, pX, Bq connecting pp0 , q0 q
and pp1 , q1 q. Let δ ą 0 be such that if s, t P r0, 1s satisfy |s ´ t| ď δ, then
}ps ´ pt } ď 1{p12κ2 q and }qs ´ qt } ď 1{p12κ2 q. Let 1 “ t0 ă t1 ă .... ă tk “ 1
be a sequence of points in r0, 1s such that ti`1 ´ ti ď δ for all i. We claim
that this k works, and to show this we build an appropriate homotopy by
concatenating the various steps below.
(i) Connect pp0 ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk , q0 ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk q to

` ˘
p0 ‘ p1n ‘ 0n q ‘ ¨ ¨ ¨ ‘ p1n ‘ 0n q , q0 ‘ p1
loooooooooooooooomoooooooooooooooon n ‘ 0n q ‘ ¨ ¨ ¨ ‘ p1n ‘ 0n q
loooooooooooooooomoooooooooooooooon
k times k times
via a rotation homotopy parametrized by r0, π{2s in the natural way.

This is 2-Lipschitz, and passes through Pp2k`1qn,κ, pX, Bq.
(ii) In the ith ‘block’ 1n ‘ 0n , use the homotopy

˜ ¸ ˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸
1 ´ pti 0 cosptq ´ sinptq 0 0 cosptq sinptq
`
0 0 sinptq cosptq 0 pti ´ sinptq cosptq
(parametrized by t P r0, π{2s) to connect 1n ‘ 0n to 1 ´ pti ‘ pti , and

similarly for q. In order to compute commutator estimates, note that
rearranging gives that the homotopy above is the same as
˜ ¸ ˜ ¸˜ ¸
1 0 pti 0 ´ cos2 ptq ´ sinptq cosptq
` , t P r0, π{2s.
0 0 0 pti ´ sinptq cosptq cos2 ptq
Using that the norm of the (second) scalar matrix appearing above is
| cosptq|, one checks that this connects the result of the previous stage
to
pp0 ‘ 1 ´ pt1 ‘ pt1 ‘ ¨ ¨ ¨ ‘ 1 ´ ptk ‘ ptk , q0 ‘ 1 ´ qt1 ‘ qt1 ‘ ¨ ¨ ¨ ‘ 1 ´ qtk ‘ qtk q
through Pp2k`1qn,2κ, pX, Bq, and is 2κ-Lipschitz.
(iii) From Corollary 2.4, each idempotent 1 ´ pti has norm at most κ. For
each i P t1, ..., ku, using that }p1 ´ pti q ´ p1 ´ pti´1 q} ď 1{p12κ2 q, Lemma
30
4.10 gives a path of idempotents connecting 1´pti and 1´pti´1 and with
the following properties: it is 1-Lipschitz; it consists of idempotents of
norm at most 2κ; each idempotent r in the path satisfies }rr, xs} ď 21κ2
for all x P X. We get similar paths with respect to the elements 1 ´ qti ,
and use these paths to connect the result of the previous stage to
pp0 ‘1´pt0 ‘pt1 ‘¨ ¨ ¨‘1´ptk´1 ‘ptk , q0 ‘1´qt0 ‘qt1 ‘¨ ¨ ¨‘1´qtk´1 ‘qtk q.
This homotopy then passes through Pp2k`1qn,2κ,21κ2 pX, Bq, and is 1-

Lipschitz.
(iv) Use an analog of the homotopy in step (ii) in each block of the form
pti ‘ 1 ´ pti (and similarly for q) to connect this to
` ˘
p1n ‘ 0n q ‘ ¨ ¨ ¨ ‘ p1n ‘ 0n q ‘ptk , p1
loooooooooooooooomoooooooooooooooon n ‘ 0n q ‘ ¨ ¨ ¨ ‘ p1n ‘ 0n q ‘qtk .
loooooooooooooooomoooooooooooooooon
k times k times
This passes through Pp2k`1qn,2κ, pX, Bq, and is 2κ-Lipschitz.
(v) Finally, noting that ptk “ p1 and qtk “ q1 , use a rotation homotopy
parametrized by r0, π{2s to connect this to pp1 ‘1nk ‘0nk , q1 ‘1nk ‘0nk q.
This passes through Pp2k`1qn,κ, pX, Bq and is 2κ-Lipschitz.
Concatenating the five homotopies above gives a 2κ-Lipschitz homotopy,
parametrized by r0, 2π ` 1s, that passes through Pp2k`1qn,2κ, pX, Bq and con-
nects pp0 ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk , q0 ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk q and pp1 ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk , q1 ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk q.
Reparametrizing by r0, 1s, we get a p16κq-Lipschitz homotopy as required.
Before we get to the main result of this subsection, we give one more
elementary lemma; we record it as it will be used multiple times below.
Lemma 4.12. Say x and y1 , ..., yn are elements of a Banach algebra such
that }rx, yi s} ď δ and }yi } ď m for all i. Then if y :“ y1 y2 ¨ ¨ ¨ ym , we have
}rx, ys} ď nmn´1 δ.
Proof. This follows from the formula
n ´ ź
ÿ ¯ ´ ź ¯
rx, ys “ yj rx, yi s yj ,
i“1 1ďjăi iăjďn
31
which itself follows from induction on n and the usual Leibniz formula rx, y1 y2 s “
y1 rx, y2 s ` rx, y1 sy2 .
Here is the main result of this subsection, which says that homotopic
idempotents are similar, while keeping some (alarmingly bad!) control on
commutator and norm estimates. The basic idea of the proof is contained in
[24, Corollary 1.32], but as usual we need to do a bit more work in order to
get our estimates.
Proposition 4.13. Let X be a self-adjoint subset of the unit ball of LB and

6
let κ ě 1 and ě 0. Let M “ 2p100κq . With notation as in Definition 4.5,
1
let pp, qq be an element of Pn,κ, pX, Bq that is in the same path component
of Pn,κ, pX, Bq as p1l , 1l q for some l P N. Then there is m P N and (with
1
notation as in Definition 4.8) an element u P Un`2m,M,M pX, Bq such that
upp ‘ 1m ‘ 0m qu´1 “ q ‘ 1m ‘ 0m .
Proof. Let k P N be as in the conclusion of Lemma 4.11, so there exists a

p16κq-Lipschitz homotopy in Pp2k`1qn,2κ,21κ2 pX, Bq between pp‘1nk ‘0nk , q ‘
1nk ‘ 0nk q and p1l ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk , 1l ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk q. Set m “ kn. Proposi-
tion 4.6 gives a p49 κ3 ¨ 16κq-Lipschitz path pppt , qt qqtPr0,1s passing through
1
Pn`2m,2κ,200κ 5 pX, Bq that connects pp ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk , q ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk q and p1l ‘
1nk ‘ 0nk , 1l ‘ 1nk ‘ 0nk q.

Define N :“ r413 κ4 s (where rys is the least integer at least as large as y),
and define ti “ i{N for i P t0, ..., N u. As the path pppt , qt qqtPr0,1s is p411 κ4 q-
Lipschitz, for any i P t1, ..., N u, }pti ´ pti´1 } ď p16κq´1 . For i P t1, ..., N u,
define vi :“ pti´1 pti ` p1 ´ pti´1 qp1 ´ pti q. As }pti } ď 2κ for all i, Corollary
2.4 implies that
}2pti ´ 1} ď 4κ (9)
for all i, and so
}1 ´ vi } “ }p2pti´1 ´ 1qppti´1 ´ pti q} ď 4κ ¨ p16κq´1 ď 1{2.
It follows that each vi is invertible, }vi } ď 2, and (by the Neumann series
formula for the inverse) }vi´1 } ď 2. Note also that as the homotopy pppt , qt qq
32
1
passes through Pp2k`1qn,2κ,200κ5 pX, Bq all the elements pti must have the same
`
scalar part (i.e. the same image under the canonical map Mn`2m pKB q Ñ
Mn`2m pCq), and so the elements vi must satisfy 1 ´ vi P Mn`2m pKB q. More-
over, for x P X, using line (9) again we see that
}rvi , xs} “ }rvi ´ 1, xs}

“ }rp2pti´1 ´ 1qppti´1 ´ pti q, xs}
ď 2}rpti´1 , xs}p}pti´1 } ` }pti }q ` }2pti´1 ´ 1}p}rpti´1 , xs} ` }rpti , xs}q
ď 12κ ¨ 200κ5 .
Hence moreover
}rvi´1 , xs} “ }vi´1 rx, vi svi´1 } ď 4 ¨ 12κ ¨ 200κ5 ď p10κq6 .
1
At this point we have that each vi is an element of Un`2m,2,p10κq 6.
´1
Note also that vi pti “ pti´1 pti “ pti´1 vi , and so vi pi vi “ pti´1 for each
i. Define v to be the product v1 v2 ¨ ¨ ¨ vN , so v satisfies v ´1 p0 v “ p1 , or
in other words v ´1 pp ‘ 1m ‘ 0m qv “ 1l ‘ 1m ‘ 0m . Note that 1 ´ v P
Mn`2m pKB q. As }vi } ď 2, as }vi´1 } ď 2 for each i, we have that }v} ď 2N and
similarly }v ´1 } ď 2N . Moreover, for any x P X, Lemma 4.12 gives }rv, xs} ď
N 2N ´1 ¨ p10κq6 and similarly }rv ´1 , xs} ď N 2N ´1 ¨ p10κq6 . Applying the
same construction with pqt q in place of ppt q, we get an invertible element w
such that w´1 pq ‘ 1m ‘ 0m qw “ 1l ‘ 1m ‘ 0m , such that 1 ´ w P Mn`2m pKB q,
such that }w} ď 2N , }w´1 } ď 2N , and such that }rw, xs} ď N 2N ´1 ¨ p10κq6
and }rw´1 , xs} ď N 2N ´1 ¨ p10κq6 for all x P X. Define u “ wv ´1 . As
N “ r413 κ4 s, this has the claimed properties.
5 The boundary map

33
Our goal in this section is to construct and analyse a“Mayer-Vietoris
boundary map” in controlled KK-theory. The main results of the section
prove the existence of this boundary map (Proposition 5.1) and show it has
an exactness property (Proposition 5.5).
Here is the promised construction of a boundary map.
Proposition 5.1. For each κ ě 1 there is N0 “ N0 pκq depending only on

κ, and with the following property. Let ě 0, and X is a subset of the unit
ball of LB . Let h P LB be a positive contraction such that }rh, xs} ď for all
x P X. Then there is a homomorphism
1
B : KKκ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq Ñ KKN0 0 ,N0 pX Y thu, Bq
1
defined by applying the following process to a class rws P KKκ, php1 ´ hqX Y
thu, Bq:
(i) With w P Un,κ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq, use Proposition 4.9 part (i) to
1
find an element u P Un,κ2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq that is in the same path
component as w in Un,κ2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq.
(ii) Define
c “ cpu, hq :“ hu ` p1 ´ hq, d “ dpu, hq :“ hu´1 ` p1 ´ hq (10)
in Mn pLB q, and
˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸
1 c 1 0 1 c 0 1
v “ vpu, hq :“ P M2n pLB q. (11)
0 1 ´d 1 0 1 ´1 0
(iii) Define « ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff
1 0 ´1 1 0
Brws :“ v v , .
0 0 0 0
In order to make the proof more palatable, we split off some computa-
tions as two technical lemmas. The arguments given for these lemmas are
elementary, but quite lengthy. We record them for the sake of completeness,
but recommend the reader skips the proofs.
34
Lemma 5.2. Let u P Mn pLB q be an invertible element such that 1 ´ u P
Mn pKB q, and let h P LB be a positive contraction. Then the elements c “
cpu, hq and d “ dpu, hq from line (10) above have the following properties.
(i) The elements cd ´ 1 and dc ´ 1 are in Mn pKB q.
(ii) If κ ě 1 and ě 0 are such that }u} ď κ, }u´1 } ď κ, }rh, us} ď ,

and }rh, u´1 s} ď , then cd ´ 1 and dc ´ 1 are both within pκ ` 1q of
hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2q.
Proof. We just look at the case of cd ´ 1 for both parts; the case of dc ´ 1
is similar. Note first that because 1 ´ u is in Mn pKB q, we must have that
1 ´ u´1 is in Mn pKB q also. We compute that
cd ´ 1 “ huhu´1 ` p1 ´ hqhu´1 ` hup1 ´ hq ´ 2h ` h2

“ h2 ` hurh, u´1 s ` hp1 ´ hqu´1
` hp1 ´ hqu ` rh, usp1 ´ hq ´ 2h ` h2 . (12)
Using that u and u´1 equal 1 modulo the ideal Mn pKB q, we compute that
this equals 0 modulo Mn pKB q. Hence cd ´ 1 is in Mn pKB q
Looking at part (ii), note that the terms hurh, u´1 s and rh, usp1 ´ hq in
line (12) above have norms at most κ and respectively. Hence cd ´ 1 is
within pκ ` 1q of h2 ` hp1 ´ hqu´1 ` hp1 ´ hqu ´ 2h ` h2 , which equals
hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2q.
Lemma 5.3. Assume κ ě 1, ě 0, and X is a subset of the unit ball of LB .

Let h P LB be a positive contraction such that }rh, xs} ď for all x P X, and
1
let u be an element of the set Un,κ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq from Definition 4.8.
Let c “ cpu, hq and d “ dpu, hq be as in line (10) above, and let v “ vpu, hq
be as in line (11).
Then }v} ď pκ ` 2q3 , }v ´1 } ď pκ ` 2q3 , and the pair
˜ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸¸
1 0 ´1 1 0
v v ,
0 0 0 0
is an element of P2n,36 κ6 ,216 κ5 pX Y thu, Bq.
35
Proof. From the definition of v in line (11) above,
˜ ¸
cpdc ´ 2q 1 ´ cd
v“
dc ´ 1 ´d
and
˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
0 ´1 1 ć 1 0 1 ć ´d dc ´ 1
v ´1 “ “ .
1 0 0 1 d 1 0 1 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q
Hence ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
1 0 ´1 cdp2 ´ cdq cpdc ´ 2qpdc ´ 1q
v v “
0 0 p1 ´ dcqd pdc ´ 1q2
and so
˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
1 0 ´1 1 0 ´pcd ´ 1q2 pcd ´ 1qcpdc ´ 2q
v v ´ “ . (13)
0 0 0 0 p1 ´ dcqd pdc ´ 1q2
This formula, part (i) of Lemma 5.2, and the fact that Mn pKB q is an ideal
in Mn pLB q imply that
˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
1 0 ´1 1 0
v v ´ P M2n pKB q,
0 0 0 0
˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
1 0 ´1 ` 1 0 1 0
whence v v is in M2n pKB q, and v v ´1 and define
0 0 0 0 0 0
the same element (so in particular, the same K-theory class) under the image
`
of the canonical quotient map σ : M2n pKB q Ñ M2n pCq. Note moreover that
3 ´1 3
}v} ď pκ ` 2q and }v } ď pκ ` 2q . As κ ě 1, this implies that
› ˜ ¸ ›
› 1 0 ›
›v v › ď pκ ` 2q6 ď 36 κ6 .
´1 ›
›
› 0 0 ›
To complete the proof that the pair

˜ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸¸
1 0 ´1 1 0
v v ,
0 0 0 0
36
defines an element of P2n,36 κ6 ,216 κ5 pX, Bq it remains to show that
›« ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 0 1 0 ›
› x, v v ´1 ´ › ď 216 κ5 . (14)
› ›
› 0 0 0 0 ›
for all x P X Y thu. We focus on the case when x is in X: the case when
x “ h follows from similar (and much simpler) estimates that we leave to the
reader.
Working towards the estimate in line (14), we compute that the element
in line (13) equals
˜ ¸˜ ¸
cd ´ 1 0 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q
. (15)
0 dc ´ 1 ´d dc ´ 1
The second matrix above satisfies

›˜ ¸›
› 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q ›
› ď }1 ´ cd} ` }c}}dc ´ 2} ` }d} ` }dc ´ 1}
› ›
›
› ´d dc ´ 1 ›
ď ppκ ` 1q2 ` 1q ` pκ ` 1qppκ ` 1q2 ` 2q
` pκ ` 1q ` ppκ ` 1q2 ` 1q.
As κ ` 1 ě 1, we therefore see that

›˜ ¸›
› 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q ›
› ď 8pκ ` 1q4 . (16)
› ›
›
› ´d dc ´ 1 ›
On the other hand, using part (ii) of Lemma 5.2, the first matrix in line (15)
above is within pκ ` 1q of hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2q (we identify this as usual
with the diagonal matrix with both entries equal to hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2q).
Hence the difference in line (13) is within 8pκ ` 1q5 of
˜ ¸
1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q
hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2q .
´d dc ´ 1
37
Hence for x P X,
›« ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 0 ´1 1 0 ›
› x, v v ´
› ›
›
› 0 0 0 0 ›
›« ˜ ¸ ff›
5
›
´1 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q ›
ď 16pκ ` 1q }x} ` › x, hp1 ´ hqpu ` u ´ 2q ›.
› ›
› ´d dc ´ 1 ›
(17)
As }rx, hs} ď , we have }rx, hp1 ´ hqs} ď 2; combining this with line (16)
gives
›« ˜ ¸ ff›
›
´1 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q ›
x, hp1 hqpu u 2q
› ›
› ´ ` ´ ›
› ´d dc ´ 1 ›
› « ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q ›
ď 2 ¨ 8pκ ` 1q5 ` ›hp1 ´ hq x, pu ` u´1 ´ 2q ›.
› ›
› ´d dc ´ 1 ›
Combining this with line (17) gives
›« ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 0 ´1 1 0 ›
› x, v v ´
› ›
›
› 0 0 0 0 ›
› « ˜ ¸ ff›
5
›
´1 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q ›
ď 32pκ ` 1q ` ›hp1 ´ hq x, pu ` u ´ 2q ›.
› ›
› ´d dc ´ 1 ›
(18)
˜ ¸
1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q
Every entry of the matrix pu ` u´1 ´ 2q can be written
´d dc ´ 1
as a sum of at most 30 terms, each of which is a product of at most 5
elements from the set tu, u´1 , h, 1u, each of which has norm at most κ. As
}rhp1 ´ hqx, ys} ď for all y P tu, u´1 , h, 1u, Lemma 4.12 gives
›« ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q ›
› hp1 ´ hqx, pu ` u´1 ´ 2q › ď 4 ¨ 30 ¨ 5 ¨ κ4 . (19)
› ›
› ´d dc ´ 1 ›
On the other hand, }rhp1 ´ hq, ys} ď 2 for all y P tu, u´1 , h, 1u, whence
›« ˜ ¸ ff ›
› 1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q ›
´1
› hp1 ´ hq, pu ` u ´ 2q x› ď 4 ¨ 30 ¨ 5 ¨ κ4 . (20)
› ›
› ´d dc ´ 1 ›
38
Finally, note that
« ˜ ¸ ff
1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q
hp1 ´ hq x, pu ` u´1 ´ 2q
´d dc ´ 1
« ˜ ¸ ff
1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q
“ hp1 ´ hqx, pu ` u´1 ´ 2q
´d dc ´ 1
« ˜ ¸ ff
1 ´ cd cpdc ´ 2q
` hp1 ´ hq, pu ` u´1 ´ 2q x,
´d dc ´ 1
so combining lines (18), (19), and (20) gives

›« ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 0 ´1 1 0 ›
› x, v v ´ › ď 1232pκ ` 1q5 .
› ›
› 0 0 0 0 ›
Recalling that κ ě 1, this is enough for the estimate we wanted.
We are now ready for the proof of Proposition 5.1.
Proof of Proposition 5.1. Assume that w P Un,κ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq, and
1
let u P Un,κ 2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq be in the same path component as w in
Un,κ2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq; u is guaranteed to exist Proposition 4.9 part (i).
Define v :“ vpu, hq as in line (11), so Lemma 5.3 gives an element
˜ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸¸
1 0 ´1 1 0
v v , P P2n,36 κ12 ,216 κ10 pX Y thu, Bq.
0 0 0 0
1
Moreover, if u0 :“ u, and u1 is another choice of element in Un,κ 2 , php1´hqX Y
thu, Bq that is connected to w in Un,κ2 , php1´hqX Ythu, Bq then Proposition

4.9 part (ii) implies that there is a homotopy put qtPr0,1s that connects u0 and
1
u1 through Un,κ 4 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq. Let vt :“ vput , hq be as in line (11).
Then Lemma 5.3 gives a path

˜ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸¸
1 0 ´1 1 0
vt v ,
0 0 t 0 0
39
in P2n,36 κ24 ,216 κ20 pXYthu, Bq. In particular, the class Brws P KK306 κ24 ,216 κ20 pXY
thu, Bq does not depend on the choice of u, so at this point we have a well-
defined set map
Un,κ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq Ñ KK306 κ24 ,216 κ20 pX Y thu, Bq.
We next claim that this map sends block sums on the left to sums on the
right.
For this, assume that w1 and w2 are elements of Un,κ, php1´hqX Ythu, Bq.
1
Let u1 and u2 be elements of Un,κ 2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq that are connected
1
to w1 and w2 respectively in Un,κ2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq. For i P t1, 2u let
vi “ vpui , hq be as in line (11), and let v :“ vpu1 ‘ u2 , hq P M4n pLB q. Then
the pairs
˜ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸¸
1n 0 ´1 1n 0 ´1 1n 0 1n 0
v1 v ‘ v2 v , ‘
0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
and ˜ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸¸
12n 0 ´1 12n 0
v v ,
0 0 0 0
in M4n pLB q‘M4n pLB q differ by conjugation by the same (scalar) permutation
matrix in each component, and so define the same class in KK306 κ24 ,216 κ20 pX Y
thu, Bq.
At this point, we have a monoid homomorphism
Un,κ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq Ñ KK306 κ24 ,216 κ20 pX Y thu, Bq.
1
We claim that it respects the equivalence relation defining KKκ, php1´hqX Y
thu, Bq. First, we check that w‘1k goes to the same class as w. As we already
know we have a monoid homomorphism, it suffices to show that 1k goes to
zero in KK306 κ24 ,216 κ20 pX Y thu, Bq. For this, note that if v :“ vp1k , hq is as in
line (11), then v “ 12k , whence the image of 1k in KK306 κ24 ,216 κ20 pX Y thu, Bq
is the class r1k ‘ 0k , 1k ‘ 0k s, which is zero by definition.
Let us now show that elements of Un,κ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq that are
homotopic through Un,2κ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq go to the same class. For
40
this, say that w0 and w1 are homotopic through Un,2κ, php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq.
1
Choose u0 and u1 in Un,κ 2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq that are connected to w0
and w1 in Un,κ2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq as in Proposition 4.9 part (i). Using
Proposition 4.9 part (ii), u0 and u1 are connected by a homotopy put qtPr0,1s
1
in Un,4κ4 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq. Let vt :“ vput , hq be as in line (11). Then
Lemma 5.3 implies that the path

˜ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸¸
1 0 ´1 1 0
vt vt ,
0 0 0 0
defines a homotopy between the images of w0 and w1 in P2n,314 κ24 ,226 κ20 pX Y
thu, Bq. Setting N0 “ 226 κ24 , we are done.
We now turn to the exactness property of the boundary map. In order

to state this, we need a simple lemma.
Lemma 5.4. Say X and Y are subsets of the unit ball of LB , ě 0 and
1
κ ě 1. With notation as in Definition 4.5, let pp, qq P Pn,κ, pX YY, Bq, and let
h P LB be a positive contraction such that }rh, xs} ď for all x P X Y tp, qu.
1 1
Then pp, qq P Pn,κ,2 phX Y Y Y thu, Bq X Pn,κ,2 pp1 ´ hqX Y Y Y thu, Bq.
Proof. We compute that for x P X,
}rp, hxs} ď }h}}rp, xs} ` }rp, hs}}x} ď `

1
and similarly for q so pp, qq P Pn,κ,2 phX Y Y Y thu, Bq. Showing that pp, qq P
1
Pn,κ,2 pp1 ´ hqX Y Y Y thu, Bq is essentially the same.
The next proposition is the promised exactness property of the Mayer-

Vietoris boundary map from Lemma 5.3. For the statement, recall that for
subsets X and Y of a normed vector space and ě 0, we write “X Ď Y ” if
for every x P X there is y P Y with }x ´ y} ď .
Proposition 5.5. For each λ ě 1, there exist constants N1 and N2 depending
only on λ, and with the following property. Let δ ě 0, and let X be a self-
adjoint subset of the unit ball of LB . Then the boundary homomorphism of
Proposition 5.1
B : KKN1 1 ,N1 δ php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq Ñ KKN0 2 ,N2 δ pX Y thu, Bq
41
exists, and moreover has the following “exactness” property.
Let P r0, δ{2s, and let κ P r1, λs. Assume that Yh , Y1´h , and Y are self-
adjoint subsets of the unit ball of LB such that Y Ď Yh and Y Ď Y1´h . With
1
notation as in Definition 4.5, assume that pp, qq P Pn,κ, pX Y Yh Y Y1´h , Bq.
Assume that h P LB is a positive contraction such that }rh, xs} ď for all
0
x P X Y tp, qu. Let rp, qsh and rp, qs1´h be the classes in KKκ,2 phX Y Yh , Bq
0
and KKκ,2 pp1 ´ hqX Y Y1´h , Bq respectively given by Lemma 5.4. Assume
that the images of rp, qsh and rp, qs1´h under the respective forget control maps
0 0
KKκ,2 phX Y Yh , Bq Ñ KKλ,δ phX Y Yh , Bq
and
0 0
KKκ,2 pp1 ´ hqX Y Y1´h , Bq Ñ KKλ,δ pp1 ´ hqX Y Y1´h , Bq
of line (3) are zero. Then with notation as in Definition 4.8, there exists
1
an element u P U8,N 1 ,N1 δ
php1 ´ hqX Y thu Y Y q such that Brus “ rp, qs in
0
KKN2 ,N2 δ pX Y thu, Bq.
Just as for the proof of Proposition 5.1, to make the proof more palatable,
we split off some computations as two technical lemmas. As in the previ-
ous case, the arguments we give for these lemmas are elementary, but quite
lengthy (in fact, much longer than the earlier ones). We record them for the
sake of completeness, but again recommend that the reader skips the proofs.
Lemma 5.6. Let ν ě κ ě 1, let γ ě ě 0, and let X, Yh , Y1´h , and Y be

self-adjoint subsets of the unit ball of LB such that Y Ď Yh and Y Ď Y1´h .
1
Let pp, qq P Pn,κ, pX Y Yh Y Y1´h , Bq as in Definition 4.5 and let h P LB be a
positive contraction such that }rh, xs} ď for all x P X Y tp, qu.
Assume moreover that with notation as in Definition 4.8, we have uh P
1 1
Un,ν,γ phX Y thu Y Yh , Bq and u1´h P Un,ν,γ pp1 ´ hqX Y thu Y Y1´h , Bq. Then
the element
u :“ u1´h p1 ´ pq ` uh p
1
is in Un,2ν 2 ,12ν 2 γ php1 ´ hqX Y thu Y Y, Bq.
Proof. We split the computations into the points labeled (i), (ii), (iii), (iv),
and (v) below.
42
(i) As uh ´1 P Mn pKB q and u1´h ´1 P Mn pKB q, we see that u´1 P Mn pKB q.
(ii) As }uh } ď ν, as }u1´h } ď ν, as }p} ď κ, and as }1´p} ď κ (by Corollary

2.4), we see that }u} ď 2νκ. As ν ě κ, we conclude that }u} ď 2ν 2 .
(iii) Let y P Y . As Y Ď Yh there is yh P Yh with }y ´ yh } ď . We have

that }ryh , uh s} ď γ. Using that }uh } ď ν, ν ě 1, and ď γ, we see that
}ry, uh s} ď }ry ´ yh , uh s} ` }ryh , uh s} ď }uh } ` 2γ ď 3νγ. (21)
Completely analogously,
}ry, u1´h s} ď 3νγ. (22)
Moreover, using the same yh as before, and using that }p} ď κ, κ ě 1,

and }rp, yh s} ď ,
}ry, ps} ď }ry ´ yh , ps} ` }ryh , ps} ď }p} ` 2 ď pκ ` 2q ď 3κ. (23)
As }1 ´ p} ď κ by Corollary 2.4, we see analogously that
}ry, 1 ´ ps} ď 3κ. (24)
Putting together the estimates in lines (21), (22), (23), and (24), we see
that
}ry, us} ď }ry, u1´h s}}1 ´ p} ` }u1´h }}ry, 1 ´ ps}

` }ry, uh s}}p} ` }uh }}ry, ps}
ď 3νκγ ` 3νκ ` 3νκγ ` 3νκ.
As ď γ and κ ď ν, we conclude this point with the inequality
}ry, us} ď 12ν 2 γ.
(iv) We have that
}ru, hs} ď }rh, u1´h s}}1´p}`}u1´h }}rh, 1´ps}`}rh, uh s}}p}`}uh }}rh, ps}.
43
As }ru1´h , hs} ď γ, as }ruh , hs} ď γ, and as }rp, hs} ď , this implies
that
}ru, hs} ď }1 ´ p}γ ` }u1´h } ` κγ ` }uh }.
As }p} ď κ (whence }1 ´ p} ď κ by Corollary 2.4), as }uh } ď ν, as
}u1´h } ď ν this implies that
}ru, hs} ď κγ ` ν ` κγ ` ν.
As ď γ and as ν ě κ ě 1, we may conclude this point with the

estimate
}ru, hs} ď 4ν 2 γ.
(v) Let x P X. Then
rhp1 ´ hqx, uh s “ p1 ´ hqrhx, uh s ` rh, uh sp1 ´ hqx.
As }rhx, uh s} ď γ, as }rh, uh s} ď γ, as h is a positive contraction, and

as x is a contraction this implies that
}rhp1 ´ hqx, uh s} ď γ ` γ “ 2γ. (25)
Completely analogously, we see that
}rhp1 ´ hqx, u1´h s} ď 2γ. (26)
As }rh, ps} ď , as }rp, xs} ď , we see also that
}rhp1 ´ hqx, ps} ď }rx, ps} ` }r1 ´ h, ps} ` }rh, ps} ď 3.
Combining this with lines (25) and (26), we get
}rhp1 ´ hqx, us} ď }rhp1 ´ hqx, u1´h s}}1 ´ p} ` }u1´h }}rhp1 ´ hqx, 1 ´ p}
` }rhp1 ´ hqx, uh s}}p} ` }uh }}rhp1 ´ hqx, p}
ď 2}1 ´ p}γ ` }u1´h }3 ` 2}p}γ ` }uh }3.
Using that ď γ, that }p} ď κ (whence }1 ´ p} ď κ by Corollary 2.4),

that }uh } ď ν and }u1´h } ď ν, and that ν ě κ ě 1, we conclude this
point with
}rhp1 ´ hqx, us} ď 10ν 2 γ.
44
Putting the points (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v) above together we see indeed
1
that (with notation as in Definition 4.8), u is an element of Un,2ν 2 ,12ν 2 γ php1 ´
hqX Y thu Y Y, Bq as claimed.
Lemma 5.7. Let ν ě κ ě 1, let γ ě ě 0, and let X, Yh , Y1´h , and Y be

self-adjoint subsets of the unit ball of LB such that Y Ď Yh and Y Ď Y1´h .
1
Let pp, qq P Pn,κ, pX Y Yh Y Y1´h , Bq as in Definition 4.5 and let h P LB be a
positive contraction such that }rh, xs} ď for all x P X Y tp, qu.
1 1
Assume moreover that uh P Un,ν,γ phX YthuYYh , Bq and u1´h P Un,ν,γ pp1´
´1 ´1
hqX YthuYY1´h , Bq as in Definition 4.8 satisfy uh puh “ q and u1´h pu1´h “
q. Define
1
u :“ u1´h p1 ´ pq ` uh p P Un,2ν 2 ,12ν 2 γ php1 ´ hqX Y thu Y Y, Bq
is in Lemma 5.6. Let v :“ vpu, hq be as in line (11) above, and define

˜ ¸
u1´h p1 ´ pq ´q
w :“ P M2n pLB q.
p p1 ´ pqu´1
1´h
Then w is invertible, and vw´1 is in U2n,p2νq8 ,237 ν 26 γ pX Y thu, Bq.
Proof. Using Corollary 2.4 we have }1 ´ p} ď κ. Hence as ν ě κ ě 1,

2
}w} ď }u1´h p1 ´ pq} ` }q} ` }p} ` }p1 ´ pqu´1
1´h } ď 2νκ ` 2κ ď 4ν .
A direct computation shows that w is invertible with inverse

˜ ¸
´1
p1 ´ pqu1´h p
w´1 “ . (27)
´q u1´h p1 ´ pq
This satisfies the same norm estimates as w, and so we get the norm estimates
}w} ď p2νq2 and }w´1 } ď p2νq2 . (28)
Lemma 5.3 and the fact that }u} ď 2ν 2 implies that }v} ď p2ν 2 ` 2q3 and
}v ´1 } ď p2ν 2 ` 2q3 . As ν ě 1, we thus see that
}v} ď p2νq6 and }v ´1 } ď p2νq6 . (29)
45
From lines (28) and (29), we thus see that
}vw´1 } ď p2νq8 and }wv ´1 } ď p2νq8 . (30)
To complete the proof, we need to show that for all x P X Y thu, we

have }rvw´1 , xs} ď 237 ν 26 γ and }rwv ´1 , xs} ď 235 ν 26 γ. We focus first on
the case of vw´1 , and look first at rh, vw´1 s. Let c :“ hu ` p1 ´ hq and
d :“ hu´1 ` p1 ´ hq be as in line (10). It will be technically convenient to
define
S :“ th, 1 ´ h, p, q, 1 ´ p, 1 ´ q, uh , u´1 ´1 ´1
h , u1´h , u1´h , u, u , c, du, (31)
and to define S n to be the set of all products of at most n elements from S.

Note that for every s P S we have }s} ď p2νq2 , and }rs, hs} ď 12ν 2 γ. Hence
by Lemma 4.12, for all n P N we have
s P Sn ñ }rh, ss} ď np2νq2pn´1q 12ν 2 γ. (32)
Note moreover that for every element s P S we have that oat least ne of the
following holds: (a) }rs, xs ď 16ν 2 γ; or (b) }rs, p1 ´ hqxs} ď 16ν 2 γ; or (c)
}rs, p1 ´ hqxs} ď 16ν 2 γ; or (d) }rs, hp1 ´ hqxs} ď 16ν 2 γ. In any of these cases,
using that }rs, hs} ď 12ν 2 γ, we get that for any s P S, }rs, hp1 ´ hqxs} ď
40ν 2 γ. Applying Lemma 4.12 again, we therefore see that
s P Sn ñ }rhp1 ´ hqx, ss} ď np2νq2pn´1q 40ν 2 γ. (33)
Now, using the formula in line (11) above,

˜ ¸
cdc ´ 2c 1 ´ cd
v“
dc ´ 1 ´d
whence ˜ ¸
rcdc, hs ´ 2rc, hs rcd, hs
rh, vs “ .
rh, dcs rd, hs
and so
}rh, vs} ď }rcdc, hs} ` 2}rc, hs} ` }rcd, hs} ` }rh, dcs} ` }rd, hs}.
46
Each summand on the right hand side above is of the form }rh, ss} where
s P S 3 for S as in line (31). Hence line (32) implies that
}rh, vs} ď 6 ¨ 3 ¨ p2νq4 ¨ 12ν 2 γ
Hence using that ν ě 1, we get
}rh, vs} ď 212 ν 6 γ. (34)
We also compute that

˜ ¸
´1
rh, p1 ´ pqu1´h s rh, ps
rh, w´1 s “ ,
rq, hs rh, u1´h p1 ´ pqs
whence
}rh, w´1 s} ď }rh, p1 ´ pqu1´h

´1
s} ` }rh, ps} ` }rq, hs} ` }rh, u1´h p1 ´ pqs}
Each commutator appearing above is of the form rh, ss for some s P S 2 as in

line (31), whence line (32) gives
}rh, w´1 s} ď 4 ¨ p2νq2 ¨ 12ν 2 γ ď 28 ν 4 γ. (35)
On the other hand,
}rh, vw´1 s} ď }rh, vs}}w´1 } ` }v}}rh, w´1 s}.
Combining this with lines (28), (29), (34), and (35), as well as that ν ě 1,
we see that
}rh, vw´1 } ď 212 ν 6 γ ¨ p2νq2 ` p2νq6 ¨ 28 ν 4 γ ď 215 ν 10 γ. (36)
Now let us look at rx, vw´1 s for x P X. The definition of v from line (11)
gives
˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
cpdc ´ 1q 1 ´ cd c 0
vw´1 “ w´1 ´ w´1
dc ´ 1 0 0 d
˜ ¸˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
cd ´ 1 0 c ´1 c 0
“ w´1 ´ w´1 .
0 dc ´ 1 1 0 0 d
47
Hence the formula for w´1 from line (27) gives
˜ ¸˜ ¸
´1
cd ´ 1 0 cp1 ´ pqu 1´h cp ´ u 1´h p1 ´ pq
vw´1 “
0 dc ´ 1 p1 ´ pqu´11´h p
looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon
y1
˜ ¸
1 ´ q uh p
´h
ú´1h q 1´p
looooooooooomooooooooooon
y2
˜ ¸
p1 ´ pqu´1 1´h p
´ p1 ´ hq .
´q u1´h p1 ´ pq
looooooooooooooooooooooomooooooooooooooooooooooon
y3
We now estimate }rvw´1 , xs} for each x P X by looking at each of the terms
y1 , y2 , and y3 separately.
(i) First, we look at y1 . Let x P X. Lemma 5.2 implies that the matrix
›˜ ¸ ›
› cd ´ 1 0 ›
´ hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2q› ď pκ ` 1q (37)
› ›
›
› 0 dc ´ 1 ›
´1
(where, as usual, we identify hp1´hqpuù
˜ ´2q with the corresponding
¸
´1
cp1 ´ pqu1´h cp ´ u1´h p1 ´ pq
diagonal matrix). Let z1 :“ . Corol-
p1 ´ pqu´1
1´h p
lary 2.4 gives that }1 ´ p} ď κ, whence
}z1 } ď }c}}1 ´ p}}u´1 ´1

1´h } ` }c}}p} ` }u1´h }}1 ´ p} ` }1 ´ p}}u1´h } ` }p}
ď p2ν 2 ` 1qκν ` p2ν 2 ` 1qκ ` νκ ` κν ` κ.
As ν ě κ ě 1, we thus see that
}z1 } ď 9ν 4 . (38)
48
Combining this with line (37), we see that
}y1 ´hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 }

›˜ ¸ ›
› cd ´ 1 0 ›
´ hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2q›}z1 }
› ›
ď›
› 0 dc ´ 1 ›
ď 9ν 4 pκ ` 1q.
As γ ě and ν ě κ ě 1, this gives
}y1 ´ hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 } ď p2νq5 γ.
As }x} ď 1, this implies that
}rx, y1 s} ď }rx, y1 ´ hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 s} ` }rx, hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 s}
ď p2νq5 γ ` }rx, hp1 ´ hqpu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 s}.
Hence we see that
}rx, y1 s} ď p2νq5 γ ` }rrx, hp1 ´ hqs, pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 }

` }rhp1 ´ hqx, pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 s}
` }rhp1 ´ hq, pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 sx}. (39)
Every entry of the matrix pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 is a sum of at most 8 elements

from the set S 4 , where S is as in line (31). Hence by line (32), we see
that
}rhp1 ´ hq, pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 s} ď 4 ¨ 2 ¨ 8 ¨ 4 ¨ p2νq6 ¨ 12ν 2 γ ď 218 ν 8 γ. (40)
We have }rx, hp1 ´ hqs} ď 2 ď 2γ, and line (38) implies
}pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 } ď p4ν 2 ` 2q ¨ 9ν 4 ď 26 ν 6 ,
whence
}rrx, hp1 ´ hqs, pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 s} ď 28 ν 6 γ. (41)
Combining lines (39), (40), and (41) thus implies that
}rx, y1 s} ď 219 ν 8 γ ` }rhp1 ´ hqx, pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 s}. (42)
49
Now, as we have observed above already, every entry in the matrix
pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 is a sum of at most 8 elements from the set S 4 , where
S is as in line (31). Hence from line (33),
}rhp1 ´ hqx, pu ` u´1 ´ 2qz1 s} ď 4 ¨ 4 ¨ p2νq4 ¨ 40ν 2 γ ď 214 ν 6 γ.
Combining this with line (42) above therefore implies
}rx, y1 s} ď 220 ν 8 γ.
(ii) If x P X, we see that

« ˜ ¸ ff « ˜ ¸ ff
1 ´ q uh p 1 ´ q uh p
rx, y2 s “ xh, ` h, x. (43)
ú´1
h q 1´p ú´1
h q 1´p
We have that
« ˜ ¸ ff ˜ ¸
1 ´ q uh p rq, hs rh, uh ps
h, “ .
ú´1
h q 1´p ru´1
h q, hs rp, hs
Each entry in the matrix on the right is the commutator of h with an

element of S 2 , where S is as in line (31) above. Hence by line (32), we
see that
›« ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 ´ q uh p ›
› h, › ď 4 ¨ 2 ¨ p2νq2 ¨ 12ν 2 γ ď 29 ν 4 γ.
› ›
´1
› úh q 1 ´ p ›
Combining this with line (43) gives

›« ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 ´ q u h p ›
}rx, y2 s} ď › xh, › ` 29 ν 4 γ. (44)
› ›
´1
› úh q 1 ´ p ›
On the other hand

« ˜ ¸ ff « ˜ ¸ ff
1 ´ q uh p 1 ´ q uh p
xh, “ rx, hs,
ú´1
h q 1´p ú´1
h q 1´p
« ˜ ¸ ff
1 ´ q uh p
` hx, . (45)
ú´1
h q 1´p
50
As }rh, xs} ď ď γ, we have
›« ˜ ¸ ff› ›˜ ¸›
› 1 ´ q uh p › › 1´q u p ›
h
› rx, hs, › ď 2γ › ›.
› › › ›
´1 ´1
› úh q 1 ´ p › › úh q 1 ´ p ›
As }1 ´ p} ď κ and }1 ´ q} ď κ by Corollary 2.4, and as κ ď γ, every

entry of the matrix on the right has norm at most ν 2 , and so
›« ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 ´ q u h p ›
hs, › ď 23 ν 2 γ.
› ›
› rx, ´1
› úh q 1 ´ p ›
Hence line (45) implies that

›« ˜ ¸ ff› ›« ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 ´ q uh p › › 1 ´ q uh p ›
› xh, hx, › ` 23 ν 2 γ. (46)
› › › ›
´1 › ď › ´1
› úh q 1 ´ p › › úh q 1 ´ p ›
The commutator appearing on the right above equals

˜ ¸
rq, hxs rhx, uh sp ` uh rhx, ps
.
ru´1 ´1
h , hxsq ´ uh rhx, qs rp, hxs
1
Using that uh P Un,ν,γ phX, Bq, and applying Lemma 5.4, the norm of
each entry above is at most 2νγ, whence
›« ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1 ´ q uh p ›
› hx, › ď 23 νγ.
› ›
´1
› úh q 1 ´ p ›
Combining this with lines (44) and (46) therefore implies that
}rx, y2 s} ď 210 ν 4 γ.
(iii) This can be handled very similarly to the case of y2 , giving the estimate
}rx, y3 s} ď 210 ν 4 γ for all x P X.
Putting together the concluding estimates of points (i), (ii), and (ii) above,
we see that }rx, vw´1 s} ď 221 ν 8 γ for all x P X. Combining this with line
(36), we see that
}rx, vw´1 s} ď 221 ν 10 γ (47)
51
for all x P X Y thu.
To complete the proof, let us estimate }rx, wv ´1 s} for x P X Y thu. Using
the formula rx, wv ´1 s “ wv ´1 rvw´1 , xswv ´1 , we see that
}rx, wv ´1 s} ď }wv ´1 }}rvw´1 , xs}}wv ´1 }.
Lines (47) and (30) therefore imply that
}rx, wv ´1 s} ď 237 ν 26 γ
and we are finally done.
Finally, we are ready for the proof of Proposition 5.5.
Proof of Proposition 5.5. With notation as in the statement, assume that

0 0
rp, qsh “ 0 and rp, qs1´h “ 0 in KKλ,δ phX Y Yh , Bq and KKλ,δ pp1 ´ hqX Y
Y1´h , Bq respectively. From the definition of KKλ,δ phX Y Yh , Bq this implies
that there exist k, l, m P N such that pp ‘ 1k , q ‘ 1k q is in the same path
component of Pm,λ,δ phX Y Yh , Bq as p1l , 1l q, and similarly (with the same
0 6
k, l, m) for KKλ,δ pp1 ´ hqX Y Y1´h , Bq. Let M :“ 2p100λq be as in Lemma
4.13.
Then (with notation as in Definition 4.8), Lemma 4.13 gives j P N and
elements
1
uh P Um`2j,M,M δ phX Y thu Y Yh , Bq
and
1
u1´h P Um`2j,M,M δ pp1 ´ hqX Y thu Y Y1´h , Bq
such that
uh pp ‘ 1k ‘ 1j ‘ 0j qu´1
h “ q ‘ 1k ‘ 1j ‘ 0j
and
u1´h pp ‘ 1k ‘ 1j ‘ 0j qu´1
1´h “ q ‘ 1k ‘ 1j ‘ 0j .
For notational simplicity, rename pp ‘ 1k ‘ 1j ‘ 0j q and pq ‘ 1k ‘ 1j ‘ 0j q

as p and q respectively and rewrite m ` 2j as n: if the conclusion of the
proposition holds for this new pair then it also holds for for the original pair
52
thanks to the definition of the controlled KK 0 groups, so this makes no real
difference. Define now
u :“ u1´h p1 ´ pq ` uh p. (48)
Using Lemma 5.6 with ν “ M and γ “ M ν, we see that (with notation as

1
in Definition 4.8), u is an element of Un,2M 2 ,12M 3 δ php1 ´ hqX Y thu Y Y, Bq as
3
claimed. We may set N1 “ 12M , which depends only on λ, and so we have
our element u as in the statement.
To complete the proof, it remains to show that there is N2 such that the
homomorphism
B : KKN1 1 ,N1 δ php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq Ñ KKN0 2 ,N2 δ pX Y thu, Bq (49)
of Proposition 5.1 exists and such that Brus “ rp, qs in KKN0 2 ,N2 δ pX Ythu, Bq.
We claim that N2 :“ 9p237 M 26 q9 works.
Increasing N2 if necessary7 , we may assume it is large enough compared
to N1 “ 12M 3 that Proposition 5.1 applies. Hence the homomorphism in
line (49) exists and if v :“ vpu, hq is as in line (11), we have
« ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff
1 0 ´1 1 0
Brus “ v v , .
0 0 0 0
Define now
˜ ¸
u1´h p1 ´ pq ´q
w :“ P M2n pLB q. (50)
p p1 ´ pqu´1
1´h
Applying Lemma 5.7 with ν “ M and γ “ M δ, we see that w is in

U2n,p2M q8 ,237 M 26 δ pX Y thu, Bq. For notational simplicity, set M1 :“ 237 M 26 .
7
Looking at the constants involved, one can see that it is not necessary, but this is
unimportant.
53
0
Proposition 4.1 implies that in KKM 3 3 pX Y thu, Bq
1 ,3M1 δ
« ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff
1 0 ´1 1 0
Brus “ v v ,
0 0 0 0
« ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff
1 0 1 0
“ pvw´1 q´1 v v ´1 pvw´1 q ,
0 0 0 0
« ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff
1 0 1 0
“ w w´1 , .
0 0 0 0
Computing, we see that
˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
1 0 1 ´ q 0
w w´1 “ ,
0 0 0 p
whence «˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff
1´q 0 1 0
Brus “ , (51)
0 p 0 0
0
in the group KKM 3 3 pX Y thu, Bq.
1 ,3M1 δ ˜ ¸
1´q q `
Note now that the matrix P M2n pKB q has norm at most
q 1´q
2κ (as }q} ď κ, and so }1 ´ q} ď κ by Corollary 2.4), and that it satisfies
›« ˜ ¸ ff›
› 1´q q ›
› x, ›ď
› ›
› q 1´q ›
˜ ¸
1´q q
for all x P X Y thu. Hence P U2n,2κ, pX Y thu, Bq. Applying
q 1´q
Proposition 4.1 again and using that κ ď M1 and ď γ and
˜ ¸˜ ¸˜ ¸
1´q q 1 0 1´q q
q 1´q 0 0 q 1´q
shows that this class is the same as
«˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ff
1´q 0 1´q 0
,
0 p 0 q
0
in KKM 6 9 pX Y thu, Bq. Using a rotation homotopy, this is the same as
1 ,9M1 δ
0
rp, qs by definition of KKM 6 ,9M 9 δ pX Y thu, Bq and we are done.
1 1
54
6 Finite dimensional algebras
We need an ad-hoc definition.
Definition 6.1. A C ˚ -subalgebra F Ď LB is large if it satisfies the following
conditions:
(i) F is contained in the C ˚ -subalgebra Bp`2 q of LB arising from the ten-
sorial decomposition HB “ `2 b B;
(ii) the difference 1Bp`2 q ´ 1F is either zero or infinite rank;
(iii) the intersection of F with Kp`2 q is zero.

Our main goal in this section is the following vanishing result for con-
trolled KK-theory. For the statement, recall that if X is a metric space then
the Hausdorff distance between two compact subsets K and L of X is the
infimum over all δ ą 0 such that every point of K is within δ of some point
of L, and such that every point of L is within δ of some point of K.
Proposition 6.2. Let κ ě 1. In addition to our usual assumptions on B,
assume that K˚ pBq “ 0. For any P p0, 1{p1000κ5 qq, if F Ď Bp`2 q Ď LB is
a large, finite-dimensional subalgebra, and if Y is a finite subset of the unit
ball of LB at Hausdorff distance at most from the unit ball of F then the
forget control map
˚ ˚
KKκ, pY, Bq Ñ KK4κ,84κ2 pY, Bq
of line (7) is zero.

We will split the proof into two parts. First, we show that if we replace
approximate commutation with Y with precise commutation with F , then
the corresponding group is zero. Then we show that if is small enough then
approximate commutation with Y gives the same group as actual commuta-
tion with F .
55
Lemma 6.3. Let κ ě 1. In addition to our usual assumptions on B, as-
sume that K˚ pBq “ 0. Let F Ď Bp`2 q Ď LB be a finite-dimensional large
subalgebra, and let Z be a subset of the unit ball of F that spans F . Then
˚
KKκ,0 pZ, Bq “ 0.
Proof. Let F 1 Ď LB be the commutant of F in LB , which is a C ˚ -algebra.
Then the maps
0
KKκ,0 pZ, Bq Ñ K0 pF 1 X KB q, rp, qs ÞÑ rps ´ rqs
and
1
KKκ,0 pZ, Bq Ñ K0 pF 1 X KB q, rus ÞÑ rus
are isomorphisms (we leave this to the reader to check). it thus suffices to
show that K˚ pKB X F 1 q “ 0.
Write F “ Mk1 ‘ ¨ ¨ ¨ ‘ MkN as a direct sum of matrix algebras, and for
each n P t1, ..., N u, let πn : F Ñ BpCkn q be the irreducible representation of
F corresponding to Mkn . As F is a large C ˚ -subalgebra of LB , the represen-
tation theory of finite-dimensional C ˚ -algebras gives us a decomposition
N ´
à ¯
kn
HB “ pH0 b Bq ‘ C b Hn b B ,
n“1
where each Hn is a separable infinite-dimensional Hilbert space (or possibly

zero for H0 ), F acts on H0 b B via the zero representation, and F acts
on Ckn b Hn b B via πn b 1Hn b 1B . From this and elementary matrix
computations, we compute that
N ´
à ¯
F 1 “ LpH0 b Bq ‘ 1Ckn b LpHn b Bq .
n“1
Hence
´ ¯ àN ´ ¯
F 1 X KB “ LpH0 b Bq X KB ‘ 1Ckn b LpHn b Bq X KB .
n“1
Each summand is just a copy of Kp`2 q b B, however (or possibly zero for
LpH0 b Bq X KB ). Hence K˚ pF 1 X KB q is isomorphic to a direct sum of either
N , or N ` 1, copies of K˚ pBq. Either way, it is zero.
56
We need some more preliminaries for before we can get to the proof of
Proposition 6.2.
Lemma 6.4. Let x be an element in a C ˚ -algebra C such that }x2 ´x} ď 1{16
and }x} ď κ for some κ ě 1. Then the spectrum of x is contained in
tz P C | |z| ď 1{4 or |z ´ 1| ď 1{4u, and for z P C we have
|z ´ 1| “ 1{3 ñ }pz ´ xq´1 } ď 9κ. (52)
Proof. We may pass to the unitization of C, and thus assume C is unital.

The polynomial spectral mapping formula implies that if z is in the spectrum
of x, then |z||z ´ 1| “ |z 2 ´ z| ď 1{16. Hence if |z ´ 0| ě 1{4, we see that
|z ´ 1| ď 1{4, which gives the statement on the spectrum.
Assume now that |z ´ 1| “ 1{3. Set w “ 1 ´ z, and note that w ´ x is
also invertible. Moreover
}pz ´ xq´1 } “ }pw ´ xqpw ´ xq´1 pz ´ xq´1 }

ď }x ` w}|ppz 2 ´ zq ´ px2 ´ xqq´1 }
ď pκ ` |w|q}ppz 2 ´ zq ´ px2 ´ xqq´1 }
4
ď κ}ppz 2 ´ zq ´ px2 ´ xqq´1 }, (53)
3
where the last step used that |w| “ 1{3 ď κ{3. Computing,
1 ´ x2 ´ x ¯´1
ppz 2 ´ zq ´ px2 ´ xqq´1 “ 2 1´ 2
z ´z z ´z
As |z 2 ´ z| “ |z||z ´ 1| ě 2{9 ą }x2 ´ x}, we may use the Neumann series to
compute this inverse, getting
8
2 2 ´1 1 ÿ ´ x2 ´ x ¯n
ppz ´ zq ´ px ´ xqq “ 2
z ´ z n“0 z 2 ´ z
Hence we get the estimate
1 1 144
}ppz 2 ´ zq ´ px2 ´ xqq´1 } ď ď “ .
|z 2 2
´ z| ´ }x ´ x} 2{9 ´ 1{16 23
Combining this with line (53), we see that
4κ 144
}pz ´ xq´1 } ď ď 9κ.
3 23
57
Lemma 6.5. Let C be a C ˚ -algebra, let κ ě 1 and let ě 0. Let x and
p be elements of C of norm at most κ with p an idempotent and such that
}x ´ p} ď . Then }x2 ´ x} ď p2κ ` 1q.
Proof. As x2 ´ x “ px2 ´ p2 q ´ px ´ pq, we estimate
}x2 ´ x} ď }p}}pp ´ xq} ` }px ´ pq}}x} ` }p ´ x}.
Corollary 6.6. Let κ ě 1 and P p0, 1{p16p2κ ` 1qqq. Let p and x be

elements of a C ˚ -algebra C of norm at most κ, and such that }p ´ x} ď .
Let χ : C Ñ t0, 1u be the characteristic function of tz P C | Repzq ą 1{2u.
Then χpxq is a well-defined idempotent in C, and }p ´ χpxq} ď 27κ2 .
Proof. Using Lemma 6.5, we have }x2 ´x} ď p2κ`1q ă 1{16. Hence Lemma
6.4 and the holomorphic functional calculus imply that χpxq is a well-defined
idempotent. Concretely, we have
ż
1
χpxq “ pz ´ xq´1 dz,
2πi γ
where γ is the positively oriented circle of radius 1{3 centered at 1. As p is

1
ş
an idempotent, we have moreover that p “ 2πi γ
pz ´ pq´1 dz, and so
ż
1
χpxq ´ p “ pz ´ xq´1 ´ pz ´ pq´1 dz.
2πi γ
Using the identity pz ´ xq´1 ´ pz ´ pq´1 “ pz ´ xq´1 px ´ pqpz ´ pq´1 , we see

that
1
}χpxq ´ p} ď Lengthpγq sup }pz ´ pq´1 }}pz ´ xq´1 }}x ´ p}.
2π zPImagepγq
Applying the estimate in line (52) to the terms }pz ´ pq´1 } and }pz ´ xq´1 }
we see that
1 2π
}χpxq ´ p} ď 81κ2 }x ´ p} ď 27κ2
2π 3
as required.
58
Lemma 6.7. For any κ ě 1 and P p0, 1{p1000κ5 qq, if F Ď Bp`2 q Ď LB is a
large finite-dimensional subalgebra, if Y is a finite subset of the unit ball of
LB at Hausdorff distance less than from the unit ball of F , and if Z is a
subset of the unit ball of F that spans F then there are homomorphisms
˚ ˚
φ : KKκ,0 pZ, Bq Ñ KKκ,κ pY, Bq
and
˚ ˚
ψ : KKκ,κ pY, Bq Ñ KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq
such that ψ ˝ φ is the canonical forget control map
˚ ˚
KKκ,0 pZ, Bq Ñ KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq
and such that the composition

ψ φ
˚
KKκ, pY, Bq / ˚
KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq / KK ˚ / ˚
2κ,2κ pY, Bq KK4κ,84κ2 pY, Bq
(where the last map is a forget control map as in line (7)) is the canonical
forget control map
˚ ˚
KKκ, pY, Bq Ñ KK4κ,84κ2 pY, Bq.
Proof. Let us look first at the case of KK 0 . Let first pp, qq P Pn,κ,0 pZ, Bq
0
define a class in KKκ,0 pZ, Bq. As p and q commute with F , and as every
y P Y is at distance at most from some f in the unit ball of F , we have
}rp, ys} ď }rp, y ´ f s} ` }rp, f s} ď }p}}y ´ f } ` 0 ď κ.
Hence pp, qq defines an element of Pn,κ,κ pY, Bq. It is not difficult to see from
here that we get a well-defined homomorphism
0 0
φ : KKκ,0 pZ, Bq Ñ KKκ,κ pY, Bq, rp, qs ÞÑ rp, qs. (54)
Our goal in the rest of the proof is to construct a map going in the opposite
direction, and prove that the two are mutually inverse up to the relevant
forget control map.
59
Let G be the (unital) C ˚ -subalgebra of LB generated by F and 1LB ´ 1F .
Note that G “ F or G – F ‘ C, and in particular is finite dimensional. Let
U be the (compact) unitary group of G, and let µ be the Haar measure on
U , normalized to have total mass one.
Let pp, qq be an element of Pn,κ,κ pY, Bq. Any u P U is within of some
element y P Y , whence
}rp, us} ď }rp, u ´ ys} ` }rp, ys} ă }p}}u ´ y} ` ď κ ` κ. (55)
Define ż
x :“ upu˚ dµpuq P Mn pLB q. (56)
U
Note that each u P U commutes with the scalar matrices Mn pCq Ď Mn pLB q.
` `
As p is in Mn pKB q, this implies that upu˚ is actually in Mn pKB q for all u P U .
As the integral in line (56) above converges in norm, it follows that x is in
`
Mn pKB q also. Note also that x precisely commutes with G (equivalently,
with F ) and that }x} ď κ. Moreover, line (55) gives
›ż › ż
› ›
˚
}x ´ p} “ › urp, u sdµpuq› ď 2κdµpuq “ 2κ.
› ›
› U › U
As we are assuming that ă 1{p100κ2 q, Lemma 6.6 implies that p1 :“ χppq is

`
a well-defined idempotent in Mn pKB q, where χ is the characteristic function
of tz P C | Repzq ą 1{2u. Moreover, Lemma 6.6 also gives the estimate
}p ´ p1 } ď 54κ3 . (57)
`
Analogously we find an idempotent q1 in the commutant of F in Mn pKB q
3 5
such that }q ´ q1 } ď 54κ . As ă 1{p1000κ q, we see in particular that
}p1 } ď κ ` κ “ 2κ, and similarly }q1 } ď 2κ. Note moreover that if σ :
Mn pKB `
q Ñ Mn pCq is the canonical quotient map then }p´p1 } ď 1{p12κ2 q by
line (57) and choice of . Hence in K0 pCq, Lemma 4.10 gives rσppqs “ rσpp1 qs.
Similarly rσpqqs “ rσpq1 qs, and so rσpp1 qs “ rσpq1 qs. At this point we have
that pp1 , q1 q is a well-defined element of Pn,2κ,0 pZ, Bq.
60
The above process taking pp, qq to pp1 , q1 q respects homotopies and block
sums, and thus we get a well-defined homomorphism
0 0
ψ : KKκ,κ pY, Bq Ñ KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq, rp, qs ÞÑ rp1 , q1 s. (58)
We claim that φ and ψ as in lines (54) and (58) are mutually inverse up to
the appropriate forget control maps, which will complete the proof. Indeed,
ψ ˝ φ is the natural forget control map
0 0
KKκ,0 pZ, Bq Ñ KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq
even on the level of cycles pp, qq, as if pp, qq is in the image of φ, then the
process above replacing pp, qq with pp1 , q1 q does not do anything. To see
that φ ˝ ψ is the claimed forget control map, we have to show that rp, qs is
0
equivalent to rp1 , q1 s in KK4κ,84κ 2 pY, Bq. Indeed, Lemma 4.10 implies that
there is a path pppt , qt qqtPr0,1s connecting pp, qq and pp1 , q1 q in Pn,4κ,84κ2 pY, Bq,
so we are done.
The case of KK 1 is similar (and simpler). Precisely analogously to the
case of KK 0 , we get a map
1 1
φ : KKκ,0 pZ, Bq Ñ KKκ,κ pY, Bq, rus ÞÑ rus.
To define ψ for KK 1 , starting with an invertible u P Un,κ,κ pY, Bq, we form

the average ż
u1 :“ vuv ˚ dµpvq P Mn pKB
`
q.
U
Then }u1 ´ u} ă 2κ. As ă 1{p1000κ5 q, this implies that
}1 ´ u1 u´1 } ď }u ´ u1 }}u´1 } ď 1{2,
whence u1 u´1 is invertible with norm at most 2. Hence u1 is also invertible,

with norm at most 2κ. Moreover,
3
}u´1 ´1 ´1 ´1
1 ´ u } ď }u1 }}u1 ´ u}}u } ă 4κ
3 5
and }u´1
1 } ă κ ` 4κ , which is smaller than 2κ as ă 1{p1000κ q. Hence we
may define
1 1
ψ : KKκ,κ pY, Bq Ñ KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq, rus ÞÑ ru1 s.
61
To complete the proof, we note just as in the KK 0 case that ψ ˝ φ is the
natural forget control map
1 1
KKκ,0 pZ, Bq Ñ KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq.
For the composition φ ˝ ψ, we consider the homotopy ut :“ p1 ´ tqu ` tu1 ,

with t P r0, 1s (note that this agrees with u1 when t “ 1, so there is no abuse
of notation). All the elements in this homotopy satisfy }1 ´ ut u´1 } ď 1{2, so
all the ut are invertible, and satisfy }ut } ď 2κ just as for u1 . Moreover, all
the ut satisfy }rut , ys} ď κ}y} for all y P Y as this is true for u and u1 . We
also note that }u´1t } ď 2κ by the same argument as for u1 , and that for any
3
y P Y , }rut , ys} “ }u´1
´1 ´1
t ry, ut sut } ď 4κ }y}. The path put qtPr0,1s thus shows
that u and u1 are homotopic in Un,2κ,4κ3 pY, Bq so we are done.
Proof of Proposition 6.2. With notation as in Lemma 6.7, we get homomor-

phisms φ and ψ such that the composition
ψ φ
˚
KKκ, pY, Bq / ˚
KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq / KK ˚ / ˚
2κ,2κ pY, Bq KK4κ,84κ2 pY, Bq
is the canonical forget control map

˚ ˚
KKκ, pY, Bq Ñ KK4κ,84κ2 pY, Bq.
˚
In particular, the forget control map in the line above factors through KK2κ,0 pZ, Bq.
This latter group is zero by Lemma 6.3, completing the proof.
7 Decomposable C ˚-algebras and the UCT

In this section we prove our main result: a separable, nuclear, unital,
decomposable C ˚ -algebra with zero K-theory satisfies the UCT.
62
Definition 7.1. Let A be a (separable) C ˚ -algebra. A representation π :
A Ñ LB is scalar if it factors through the natural inclusion Bp`2 q Ď LB
arising from the decomposition HB “ `2 b B.
The following result is essentially due to Kasparov.
Lemma 7.2. If A is nuclear and unital, then there exists a scalar, unitally
absorbing representation π : A Ñ LB .
Proof. Let π : A Ñ Bp`2 q be a faithful, unital, representation whose image

does not contain any non-zero compact operators. In [20, Theorem 5], Kas-
parov proves that if A is nuclear and unital, then the composition ι ˝ π of π
with the canonical inclusion ι : Bp`2 q Ñ LpHB q satisfies the condition Thom-
sen gives in [34, Theorem 2.1, condition (4)]. In Thomsen’s terminology [34,
Definition 2.2], this says that ι ˝ π is unitally absorbing, which is what we
want.
For the rest of this section, we assume that A has been identified with a
subset of LB by a scalar unitally absorbing representation as in Lemma 7.2
above.
We recall a result of Dadarlat [10, Corollary 5.3].
Theorem 7.3 (Dadarlat). Assume A is a separable nuclear C ˚ -algebra such

that KLpA, Aq “ 0. Then KKpA, Aq “ 0.
Theorem 7.4. Assume that A is a separable, nuclear, unital, decomposable

C ˚ -algebra such that K˚ pAq “ 0. Then KKpA, Aq “ 0. In particular, A
satisfies the UCT.
Proof. To show that KKpA, Aq “ 0 it suffices by Theorem 7.3 to prove that

KLpA, Aq “ 0. Using Proposition 2.9, it suffices to prove that there is κ ě 1
0
such that lim KKκ, pX, Aq “ 0. Fixing κ ě 1, it suffices to prove that if we
Ð
have an arbitrary element
0
prpX, , qX, sqpX,qPXκ P lim KKκ, pX, Aq,
Ð
63
and if X is a finite subset of A1 and ą 0, then there is a finite subset Z of
A1 that contains X and γ ď such that the forget control map
0 0
KKκ,γ pZ, Aq Ñ KKκ, pX, Aq
takes rpZ,γ , qZ,γ s to zero (and therefore rpX, , qX, s “ 0 as this forget control
map takes rpZ,γ , qZ,γ s to rpX, , qX, s by definition of an element of an inverse
limit). Replacing X with X Y X ˚ , we may assume that X is self-adjoint.
Let us then prove this. Let us iteratively put conditions on γ as follows.
(i) Define κ1 :“ κ5 and γ1 :“ 2γ.
(ii) Assume γ1 is small enough so that (as in the assumptions of Proposition

6.2) we have that γ1 ă {p1000κ51 q. Define κ2 :“ 4κ1 , and γ2 :“ 84κ21 γ1 .
(iii) Let N1 be as in Proposition 5.5 with respect to λ “ κ2 , and define

κ3 “ N1 and γ3 “ N1 γ2 .
(iv) Assume γ3 is small enough so that γ3 ă {p1000κ53 q. Define κ4 :“ 4κ3 ,

and γ4 :“ 84κ23 γ2 .
(v) Let N2 be as in Proposition 5.5 with respect to λ :“ κ2 , and let

N0 “ N0 pκ4 q be as in Proposition 5.1 with respect to κ4 . Define
κ5 :“ maxtN2 , N0 u, and define γ5 :“ maxtN2 γ2 , N0 γ4 u.
(vi) Assume γ5 is small enough so that Lemma 2.7 gives a homomorphism

φ˚ : KKκ05 ,γ5 pX, Aq Ñ KKκ,
0
pX, Aq making the diagram
0
KKκ,γ pX, Aq / KKκ05 ,γ5 pX, Aq (59)
5
φ˚
(
0
KKκ, pX, Aq
(in which the horizontal and diagonal maps are forget control maps as
in line (3)) commute.
64
Working through the above conditions, one sees that for any κ ě 1, there is
some γ ą 0 that makes the above all work.
Let h P A1 , Fh , F1´h , and F be as in the definition of decomposability
with respect to the parameter γ and the set X. Let Yh , Y1´h and Y be self-
adjoint, γ-dense finite subsets of the unit balls of Fh , F1´h and F respectively.
Set Z :“ X Y thu Y Y1´h Y Yh . We claim that the pair pZ, γq has the desired
property.
Let n be such that ppZ,γ , qZ,γ q is in Pn,κ,γ pZ, Aq. Using Proposition 4.6
1
part (i) there is l P N and pp, qq P Pn,κ 1 ,γ
pZ, Aq in the same path component
`
of Pn,κ1 ,γ pZ, Aq as ppZ,γ , qZ,γ q. Let l P N be such that if σ : Mn pKB q Ñ Mn pCq
is the canonical quotient map, then σppq “ σpqq “ 1l . Lemma 5.4 implies
that pp, qq defines classes
rp, qsh P KKκ01 ,2γ phX YYh , Aq and rp, qs1´h P KKκ01 ,2γ pp1´hqX YY1´h , Aq.
Our choice of h and Yh ensure that the Hausdorff distance between hX Y Yh

and the unit ball of Fh is at most γ. Similarly, the Hausdorff distance between
p1 ´ hqX Y Y1´h and the unit ball of F1´h is at most γ. Hence by Proposition
6.2 and the fact that γ is small enough so that γ1 ă {p1000κ51 q, we see that
the forget control maps
KKκ01 ,2γ phX Y Yh , Aq Ñ KKκ02 ,γ2 phX Y Yh , Aq
and
KKκ01 ,2γ pp1 ´ hqX Y Y1´h , Aq Ñ KKκ02 ,γ2 pp1 ´ hqX Y Y1´h , Aq
1
of line (3) are zero. We may now apply Proposition 5.5 to get u P U8,κ 3 ,γ3
php1´
hqX Y thu Y Y, Aq such that if N2 is as in Proposition 5.5 with respect to
λ :“ κ2 , then Brus “ rp, qs in KKN0 2 ,N2 γ2 pX Y thu, Aq.
We have by assumption that the Hausdorff distance between hp1´hqXYY
and the unit ball of F is at most γ, which is less than γ3 . As γ is small enough
so that γ3 ă {p1000κ53 q, Proposition 6.2 again gives that the canonical forget
control map
KKκ13 ,γ3 php1 ´ hqX Y Y, Aq Ñ KKκ14 ,γ4 php1 ´ hqX Y Y, Aq
65
of line (6) is zero. Hence in particular, rus “ 0 in KKκ14 ,γ4 php1 ´ hqX, Aq.
Proposition 5.1 and the facts that κ5 ě N0 and γ5 ě N0 γ4 implies that that
the boundary map
KKκ14 ,γ4 php1 ´ hqX, Aq Ñ KKκ15 ,γ5 pX, Aq
is a well-defined homomorphism. Using that κ5 ě N2 and that γ5 ě N2 γ2 ,

we have that rp, qs “ Brus “ 0 in KKκ05 ,γ5 pX, Aq.
Finally, consider the diagram below, which extends the diagram in line
(59) and in which all unlabelled arrows are forget control maps as in line (3):
0
KKκ,γ pX, Aq / KKκ05 ,γ5 pX, Aq .
5
φ˚
(
0
KKκ, pX, Aq
0
We have that rp, qs “ 0 in KKκ5 ,γ5 pX, Aq. Hence φ˚ rp, qs “ 0 in KKκ, pX, Aq.
0
By commutativity of the diagram, this also says that rp, qs “ 0 in KKκ, pX, Aq
and we are done.
A Examples of decomposable C ˚-algebras

In this appendix we give some examples of decomposable C ˚ -algebras. The
exact extent of the class of decomposable C ˚ -algebras is quite mysterious to
us, but we can at least show that some natural examples of simple nuclear
C ˚ -algebras fall into this class. In particular, we see that there are both
purely infinite and stably finite simple nuclear examples.
A.1 Cuntz algebras are decomposable

The material in this section is based closely on work of Winter and Zacharias
[40, Section 7]8 . Our aim is to prove the following result.
8
More specifically, it is based on the slightly different approach to the material in [40,
Section 7] suggested in [40, Remark 7.3].
66
Proposition A.1. For any n P N with n ě 2, the Cuntz algebra On is
decomposable.
We do not know if O8 is decomposable (but we conjecture that it is).

The proof of Proposition A.1 needs some preparation. We will follow
the notation from [40, Section 7]. Fix n P N with n ě 2. Let H be an n-
dimensional Hilbert space, with fixed orthonormal basis te1 , ..., en u. Define
8
à
Γpnq :“ H bl , (60)
l“0
where H bl is the lth tensor power of H (and H b0 is by definition a copy of

C). Let Wn be the set of all finite words based on the alphabet t1, ..., nu. In
symbols
8
ğ
Wn :“ t1, ..., nuk
k“0
(with t1, ..., nu0 by definition consisting only of the empty word). For each
µ “ pi1 , ...., ik q P Wn , define eµ :“ ei1 b ¨ ¨ ¨ b eik , and define e∅ to be any unit-
length element of H b0 “ C. Then the set teµ | µ P Wn u is an orthonormal
basis of Γpnq. For µ P Wn , write |µ| for the length of µ, i.e. |µ| “ k means
that µ “ pi1 , ..., ik q for some i1 , .., ik P t1, ..., nu. Then the canonical copy of
H bk inside Γpnq from line (60) has orthonormal basis teµ | |µ| “ ku.
For each i P t1, ..., nu let Ti be the bounded operator on Γpnq that acts
on basis elements via the formula
Ti : eµ ÞÑ ei b eµ .
The Cuntz-Toeplitz algebra Tn is defined to be the C ˚ -subalgebra of BpΓpnqq

generated by T1 , ..., Tn . We note that each Ti is an isometry, and that 1 ´
řn ˚
i“1 Ti Ti is the projection onto the span of e∅ . It follows directly from
this that Tn contains all matrix units with respect to the basis teµ u of Γpnq,
and therefore contains the compact operators K on Γpnq. Moreover, in the
quotient Tn {K, the images si of the generators Ti satisfy the Cuntz relations
s˚i si “ 1 and ni“1 si s˚i “ 1, and therefore the quotient is a copy of the Cuntz
ř
algebra On .
67
Now, for x P R` , define rxs :“ mintn P N | n ě xu, and define9
2k´1
à 2k`rk{2s
à
Γ0,k :“ H bl and Γ1,k :“ H bl . (61)
l“k l“k`rk{2s
p0q
For i P t0, 1u, define Bi,k :“ BpΓi,k q. For each l, m P N, we identify H bl b
H bm with H bpl`mq via the bijection of orthonormal bases
` ˘ ` ˘
ei1 b ¨ ¨ ¨ b eil b ej1 b ¨ ¨ ¨ b ejm Ø ei1 b ¨ ¨ ¨ b eil b ej1 b ¨ ¨ ¨ b ejm .
Fix for the moment k P N (it will stay fixed until Lemma A.2 below). Then
for each j P N we get a canonical identification
2k´1
à pj`1qk´1
à
Γ0,k b H bjk “ H bl b H bjk “ H bl .
l“k l“jk
Combining this with line (60) we get a canonical identification

k´1
´à ¯ ´à8 ¯
Γpnq “ H bl ‘ Γ0,k b H bjk .
l“0
looooomooooon j“0
“:H0
p0q
Let id be the identity representation of B0,k on Γ0,k and write B0,k for the
p0q
image of B0,k in the representation on Γpnq that is given by
8
´à ¯
0H0 ‘ id b 1H bjk
k“0
with respect to the above decomposition above. Similarly, we get a decom-

position
´ k`rk{2s´1
à ¯ ´à8 ¯
Γpnq “ H bl ‘ Γ1,k b H bjk
l“0
loooooooomoooooooon j“0
“:H1
9
In [40, Section 7], Γ0,k is written Γk,2k and Γ1,k is written Γk`rk{2s,2k`rk{2s .
68
p0q
and define B1,k to be the image of B1,k under the representation
8
´à ¯
0H1 ‘ id b 1H bjk .
k“0
Now, let f : r0, 1s Ñ r0, 1s be the function with graph pictured, where
the non-differentiable points occur at the x values 1{6, 2{6, 4{6, and 5{6.
p0q p0q
Let h0,k P B0,k be the operator on Γ0,k that acts on the summand H bl from
line (61) by multiplication by the scalar f ppl ´ kq{pk ´ 1qq. Similarly, let
p0q p1q
h1,k P B1,k be the operator on Γ1,k that acts on the summand H bl from line
(61) by multiplication by the scalar 1 ´ f ppl ´ k ´ rk{2sq{pk ´ 1qq. Let h0,k
p0q p0q
and h1,k be the images of h0,k and h1,k in B0,k and B1,k respectively. Note
that the operator on h0,k ` h1,k on Γpnq acts on the summand on H bl from
line (60) by multiplication by 1 as long as l ě k ` rk{2s. In particular,
h0,k ` h1,k equals the identity on Γpnq up to a finite rank perturbation.

(62)
We will need two technical lemmas about these operators.
Lemma A.2. For any T in the Cuntz-Toeplitz algebra Tn and i P t0, 1u, we
have that }rhi,k , T s} Ñ 0 as k Ñ 8.
Proof. We will focus on h0,k : the case of h1,k is essentially the same. It
suffices to consider the case where T is one of the canonical generators Ti of
the Cuntz-Toeplitz algebra. Let eµ be a basis element with |µ| “ jk ` l for
69
some j, l P N with l P t0, ..., k ´ 1u. Then we compute that rh0,k , Ti seµ “ 0 if
j “ 0, and that otherwise
` ˘
rh0,k , Ti seµ “ f ppl ` 1q{pk ´ 1qq ´ f pl{pk ´ 1qq ei b eµ .
As the elements tei b eµ | µ P Wn u are an orthonormal set, this implies that
}rh0,k , Ti s} ď max |f ppl ` 1q{pk ´ 1qq ´ f pl{pk ´ 1qq|.

lPt0,...,k´1u
The choice of function f implies that the right hand side above is approxi-
mately 6{k, so we are done.
Lemma A.3. For any T in the Cuntz-Toeplitz algebra Tn we have that:
(i) for i P t0, 1u, dphi,k T, Bi,k q Ñ 0 as k Ñ 8;
(ii) dph0,k h1,k T, B0,k X B1,k q Ñ 0 as k Ñ 8.
Proof. We will focus on the case of h0,k : the other cases are similar. It
suffices to consider T a finite product S1 ...Sm , where each Sj is either one of
1{l
the generators Ti or its adjoint. Using Lemma A.2, we see that rh0,k , Sj s Ñ 0
as k Ñ 8 for any j, and any l P N with l ě 1. Hence the difference
` 1{p2mq 1{p2mq ˘` 1{p2mq 1{p2mq ˘ ` 1{p2mq 1{p2mq ˘
h0,k S1 ...Sm ´ h0,k S1 h0,k h0,k S2 h0,k ¨ ¨ ¨ h0,k Sm h0,k
tends to zero as k Ñ 8. It thus suffices to prove that the distance between

1{p2mq 1{p2mq
each of the terms h0,k Sj h0,k and B0,k tends to zero as k Ñ 8. Define
1{l
pk to be the strong operator topology limit of h0,k as l Ñ 8; in other words,
1{p2mq 1{p2mq
pk is the support projection of h0,k . Then we have that h0,k Sj h0,k “
1{p2mq 1{p2mq 1{p2mq
h0,k pk Sj pk h0,k . As h0,k
is in B0,k , it suffices to prove that the distance
between pk Ti pk and B0,k tends to zero as k Ñ 8. However, pk Ti pk is actually
in B0,k , so we are done.
Now, as in the discussion on [40, page 488], define

k´1
à
Γk pnq :“ H bl .
l“0
70
For a word µ P Wn in t1, ..., nu, we may uniquely write µ “ µ0 µ1 , where the
lengths |µ0 | and |µ1 | satisfy |µ0 | P t0, ..., k ´ 1u, and |µ1 | P kN. Then the
bijective correspondence of orthonormal bases
eµ Ø eµ0 b eµ1
gives rise to a decomposition
Γpnq “ Γk pnq b Γpnk q.
Identify the C ˚ -algebra BpΓk pnqq b Tnk with its image in the representation
on Γpnq arising from the above decomposition. The following is essentially
part of [40, Lemma 7.1].
Lemma A.4. With notation as above, BpΓk pnqq b Tnk contains the finite-
dimensional C ˚ -algebras we have called B0,k and B1,k , and in particular also
contains h0,k and h1,k .
Proof. In the notation of [40, Lemma 7.1], B0,k “ Λk pBpΓk,2k qq, and B1,k “
Λk pBpΓk`rk{2s,2k`rk{2s qq. Part (i) of [40, Lemma 7.1] says exactly that the
image of Λk is contained in BpΓk pnqq b Tnk , however, so we are done.
It is explained on [40, page 488] that BpΓk pnqq b Tnk contains Tn , so we

get a canonical inclusion.
Tn Ñ BpΓk pnqq b Tnk . (63)
The dimension of Γk pnq is dk :“ 1 ` n ` n2 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` nk´1 , so we may make

the identification BpΓk pnqq b Tnk “ Mdk pTnk q. With respect to this identi-
fication, the inclusion in line (63) takes the compact operators on Γpnq to
Mdk pKpΓpnk qqq. Taking the quotient by the compacts on both sides of line
(63) thus gives rise to an inclusion
ι : On Ñ Mdk pOnk q. (64)
In this language, we get the following immediate corollary of Lemmas A.2

and A.3. To state it, let q : BpΓpnqq Ñ QpΓpnqq be the quotient map from
the bounded operators on Γpnq to the Calkin algebra.
71
Corollary A.5. For any a P On , we have that the following all tend to zero as
k Ñ 8: }rqph0,k q, ιpaqs}, }rqph1,k q, ιpaqs}, dpqph0,k qιpaq, qpB0,k qq, dpqph1,k qιpaq, qpB1,k qq,
and dpqph0,k h1,k qιpaq, qpB0,k X B1,k qq.
We are finally ready for the proof of Proposition A.1.
Proof of Proposition A.1. Let ą 0, and let X be a finite subset of the unit
ball of On . Corollary A.5 implies that for any large k we have that for all
a P X and i P t0, 1u, the quantities }rqphi,k q, ιpaqs}, dpqphi,k qιpaq, qpBi,k qq,
and dpqph0,k h1,k qιpaq, qpB0,k X B1,k qq are smaller than {2. We may assume
moreover that k ” 1 modulo n ´ 1. Fix this k for the remainder of the proof.
As discussed on [40, page 488], we have a canonical unital inclusion Onk Ñ
On by treating suitable products of the generators of On as generators of
Onk . Moreover, dk is equal to k modulo n ´ 1. It follows that the K-theory
of Mdk pOn q is given by Z{pn ´ 1qZ in dimension zero and zero in dimension
one, with the class r1s of the unit in K0 represented by the residue of k in
Z{pn ´ 1qZ. Hence the K-theory invariants of Mdk pOn q and On agree, as we
are assuming that k ” 1 modulo n ´ 1. In particular, the Kirchberg-Phillips
classification theorem (see for example [28, Corollary 8.4.8]) gives a unital
isomorphism Mdk pOn q – On . Combining this with the inclusion Onk Ñ On
mentioned above gives a unital inclusion
β : Mdk pOnk q Ñ On . (65)
Now, the composition β ˝ ι : On Ñ On of β as in line (65) and ι as in line (64)

is a unital inclusion, whence necessarily induces an isomorphism on K-theory.
As On satisfies the UCT, β ˝ ι is therefore a KK-equivalence (see for example
[31, Proposition 7.3]). Hence the uniqueness part of the Kirchberg-Phillips
classification theorem (see for example [28, Theorem 8.3.3, (iii)]) implies that
β ˝ ι : On Ñ On is approximately unitarily equivalent to the identity. Thus
there is a sequence pum q of unitaries in On such that }a ´ um βιpaqu˚m } Ñ 0
for all a P On . Choose m large enough so that }a ´ um βιpaqu˚m } ă {2 for all
a P X.
Set h :“ um βpqph0,k qqu˚m , Fh :“ um βpqpB0,k qqu˚m , F1´h :“ um βpqpB1,k qqu˚m ,
and F :“ um βpqpB1,k X B0,k qqu˚m . Our choices, plus the fact that qph0,k `
72
h1,k q “ 1 (see line (62)), imply that this data satisfies the definition of de-
composability (Definition 1.1), so we are done.
A.2 Cantor minimal systems are decomposable

In this section, we give another interesting class of examples of simple decom-
posable C ˚ -algebras: crossed products associated to Cantor minimal systems.
In fact, we prove something a little more general. For the next state-
ment, see for example [32] for background on locally compact, Hausdorff,
étale groupoids. A locally compact, Hausdorff, étale groupoid is ample if
it has totally disconnected base space, or equivalently if it has a basis for
its topology consisting of compact open bisections. See [17, Section 5] for
dynamic asymptotic dimension in the context of groupoids.
Proposition A.6. Let G be an ample, principal, étale groupoid with dy-

namic asymptotic dimension at most one, and compact base space. Then the
groupoid C ˚ -algebra Cr˚ pGq is decomposable.
Corollary A.7. Let Γ be a virtually cyclic group acting freely on the Cantor
set X. Then the crossed product CpXq ¸r Γ is decomposable.
In particular, if Z acts minimally on the Cantor set, then CpXq ¸r Z is
decomposable.
Proof. If Γ is finite, the crossed product CpXq ¸r Γ is AF (this follows for

example from [14, Lemma 3.4]), and AF algebras are easily seen to be decom-
posable. Assume then that Γ is infinite. The action has dynamic asymptotic
dimension one by [1, Theorem 2.2] (see [17, Theorem 3.1] for the case of min-
imal Z-actions), and therefore the associated transformation groupoid X ¸ Γ
has dynamic asymptotic dimension one by [17, Lemma 5.4]. As the action is
free, X ¸Γ is principal. As the base space of the groupoid X ¸Γ is the Cantor
set, it is ample. Hence the groupoid C ˚ -algebra Cr˚ pX ¸ Zq is decomposable
by Proposition A.6. However, Cr˚ pX ¸ Γq is the same as CpXq ¸r Γ (see for
example [32, Example 3.3.8]).
For the proof of Proposition A.6, it is convenient to split off two lemmas.
73
Lemma A.8. Let G be an étale groupoid. Let K be a subset of G, and let
H be the subgroupoid of G that K generates. Then if K is open, H is open
(and in particular is an étale groupoid in its own right). Moreover, if H is
relatively compact and K is closed then H is compact.
Proof. When K is open, H is open and an étale groupoid by (for example)

[17, Lemma 5.2]. Assume now that H is relatively compact and K is closed.
Then (for example) [17, Lemma 8.10] implies that there is M ą 0 such
that for each x P X, the range fibre H x has at most M elements. Let
phi q be a net in H converging to some g P G. We may write each hi as
a product k0 k1 ¨ ¨ ¨ kmpiq where each kj is in K Y K ´1 Y rpKq Y spKq. As
rpk0 ¨ ¨ ¨ kj q “ rphi q and as k0 ¨ ¨ ¨ kj P H for each j P t0, ..., mpiqu, there are
only M possible choices for these products. Removing redundancies (and
adding redundant units if necessary) we may assume that each hi is actually
piq piq
a product of exactly M elements from K, say k1 ¨ ¨ ¨ kM . As K is a closed
subset of H, which is compact, K is compact. Hence K Y K ´1 Y rpKq Y spKq
piq
is compact, and so we may assume on passing to subnets that each net pkj q
converges to some kj P K Y K ´1 Y rpKq Y spKq. As g “ k1 ¨ ¨ ¨ kM , g is in H,
so H is closed, so compact.
For the next lemma, recall that if X and Y are subsets of a metric space
and ě 0 then we write “X Ď Y ” to mean that for every x P X there exists
y P Y such that dpx, yq ď .
Lemma A.9. Let G be an ample, principal, étale groupoid. Let H1 and

H2 be compact open subgroupoids of G and H0 “ H1 X H2 . Then for any
finite subsets Xi Ď Cr˚ pHi q for i P t0, 1, 2u and any ą 0 there exist finite
dimensional C ˚ -subalgebras Fi Ď Cr˚ pHi q for i P t0, 1, 2u such that F0 Ď
F1 X F2 , and such that Xi Ď Fi for i P t0, 1, 2u.
Proof. We first appeal to [14, Lemma 3.4]: in the language of that lemma,
each Hi is a CEER, and therefore for each i there is an isomorphism of
topological groupoids
ğmi
piq piq
Hi – Y j ˆ Pj
j“0
74
piq piq
where each Yj is a compact open subset of Gp0q and each Pj is a pair
groupoid on a finite set. We may assume further that this isomorphism
piq
is compatible in the obvious sense with the inclusion of each Yj into Gp0q .
piq
Further subdividing the sets Yj , we may assume that there are finitely many
piq piq
compact open subsets Y0 , ..., YN of Gp0q and pair groupoids P0 , ..., PN for
i P t0, 1, 2u as well as integers m1 ď m2 in t0, ..., N u such that
m2
ğ N
ğ
p1q p2q
H1 – Yj ˆ Pj , H2 – Yj ˆ Pj
j“0 j“m1
and m2
ğ p0q
H0 – Y j ˆ Pj ,
j“m1
p0q p1q p2q
and such that Pj Ď Pj X Pj for all j. Write I1 :“ t0, ..., m2 u, I2 :“
tm1 , ..., N u, and I0 :“ tm1 , ..., m2 u. Using that each Gp0q is totally discon-
nected and that for each i P t0, 1, 2u, each x P Xi is a uniformly contin-
uous function x : Hi Ñ C, we may further subdivide each Yj into com-
pact open subsets to assume that for each x P Xi there is an element z of
piq
spantχYj ˆtgu | j P Ii , g P Pj u such that }z ´ x}Cr˚ pGq ď (here χYj ˆtgu P
Cc pGq is the characteristic function of the compact open set Yj ˆ tgu). Set
piq
Fi :“ spantχYj ˆtgu | j P Ii , g P Pj u. Then F0 , F1 , F2 have the right proper-
ties.
Proof of Proposition A.6. Assume a finite subset X of the unit ball of Cr˚ pGq
and ą 0 are given. Up to an approximation, we may assume that X is a
subset of Cc pGq, whence there is a compact open set K Ď G such that X is
a subset of Cc pKq. Using [17, Lemma 8.20] there exists δ ą 0 such that if
φ : Gp0q Ñ C satisfies supgPK |φprpgqq ´ φpspgqq| ă δ, then for any f P Cc pGq
supported in K, we have }rf, φs} ď p{3q}f }}φ}. Using dynamic asymptotic
dimension one and [17, Proposition 7.1] there exists an open cover U1 , U2 of
Gp0q and continuous functions φ1 , φ2 : Gp0q Ñ r0, 1s such that: each φi is
supported in Ui ; φ1 pxq2 ` φ2 pxq2 “ 1 for all x P X; |φi pspgqq ´ φi prpgqq| ă δ
for all g P K and i P t1, 2u; and tg P K | spgq, rpgq P Ui u is contained in a
relatively compact open subgroupoid Hi of G for i P t1, 2u. As Gp0q is totally
75
disconnected, we can assume on shrinking U1 and U2 slightly that these sets
are closed and open. Hence in particular, each set tg P K | rpgq, spgq P Ui u
is compact and open. Hence the subgroupoid this generates is compact and
open by Lemma A.8, so we may also assume that H0 and H1 are compact
and open.
Now, define h :“ φ21 , which is a positive contraction such that 1 ´ h “ φ22 .
For any x P X, note first that
}rh, xs} ď 2}φ1 }}rφ1 , xs} ď 2{3.
Moreover, for each x P X, we have
}hx ´ φ1 xφ1 } ď }φ1 }}rx, φ1 s} ď {3,
and similarly }p1 ´ hqx ´ φ2 xφ2 } ď {3. If we moreover set φ0 :“ φ1 φ2 , we

see that
}hp1 ´ hqx ´ φ0 xφ0 } ď }φ1 φ22 }}rx, φ1 s} ` }φ2 }φ21 }}rx, φ2 s} ď 2{3.
Set H0 “ H1 X H2 , and note that for i P t0, 1, 2u, φi xφi is contained in

Cr˚ pHi q. Lemma A.9 applied to these subgroupids and Xi :“ φi Xφi then
gives finite dimensional C ˚ -subalgebras Fi of Cr˚ pHi q for i P t0, 1, 2u such
that F0 Ď F1 X F2 and such that φi Xφi Ď{3 Fi for i P t0, 1, 2u. Setting
F :“ F0 , Fh :“ F1 and F1´h :“ F2 , we have the properties required by
decomposability.
References
[1] M. Amini, K. Li, D. Sawicki, and A. Shakibazadeh. Dynamic asymptotic
dimension for actions of virtually cyclic groups. ArXiv:2007.00960, 2020.
73
[2] B. Blackadar. K-Theory for Operator Algebras. Cambridge University

Press, second edition, 1998. 13, 14, 20, 22, 27
76
[3] B. Blackadar. Operator Algebras: Theory of C ˚ -Algebras and Von Neu-
mann Algebras. Springer, 2006. 22
[4] B. Blackadar, M. Dadarlat, and M. Rørdam. The real rank of inductive

limit C ˚ -algebras. Math. Scand., 69:211–216, 1991. 4
[5] J. Bosa, N. Brown, Y. Sato, A. Tikuisis, S. White, and W. Winter.

Covering dimension of C ˚ -algebras and 2-coloured classification. Mem.
Amer. Math. Soc., 1233, 2019. 4
[6] L. G. Brown and G. K. Pedersen. C ˚ -algebras of real rank zero. J.

Funct. Anal., 99:131–149, 1991. 3
[7] J. Carrión, J. Gabe, C. Schafhauser, A. Tikuisis, and S. White. Classi-

fication of ˚-homomorphisms I: the simple nuclear case. Preprint, 2020.
3
[8] J. Castillejos, S. Eilenberg, A. Tikuisis, S. White, and W. Winter. Nu-

clear dimension of simple C ˚ -algebras. Invent. Math., 224(1):245–290,
2021. 4
[9] J. Castillejos and S. Evington. Nuclear dimension of simple stably pro-

jectionless C ˚ -algebras. Analysis and PDE, 13:2205–2240, 2020. 4
[10] M. Dadarlat. On the topology of the Kasparov groups and its applica-
tions. J. Funct. Anal., 228(2):394–418, 2005. 6, 9, 63
[11] G. Elliott. The classification problem for amenable C ˚ -algebras. In

Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, volume
1,2, pages 922–932, 1995. 3
[12] G. Elliott, G. Gong, H. Lin, and Z. Niu. On the classification

of simple amenable C ˚ -algebras with finite decomposition rank, II.
arXiv:1507.03437, 2015. 3
[13] G. A. Elliott, G. Gong, H. Lin, and Z. Niu. The classification of sim-

ple separable unital Z-stable locally ASH algebras. J. Funct. Anal.,
272(12):5307–5359, 2017. 3
77
[14] T. Giordano, I. Putnam, and C. Skau. Affable equivalence relations and
orbit structure of Cantor dynamical systems. Ergodic Theory Dynam.
Systems, 24(2):441–475, 2004. 73, 74
[15] G. Gong, H. Lin, and Z. Niu. A classification of finite simple amenable

Z-stable C ˚ -algebras, I: C ˚ -algebras with generalized tracial rank one.
C. R. Math. Acad. Sci. Soc. R. Canada, 42(3):63–450, 2020. 3
[16] G. Gong, H. Lin, and Z. Niu. Classification of finite simple amenable

Z-stable C ˚ -algebras, II: C ˚ -algebras with rational generalized tracial
rank one. C. R. Math. Acad. Sci. Soc. R. Canada, 42(4):451–539, 2020.
3
[17] E. Guentner, R. Willett, and G. Yu. Dynamic asymptotic dimension:

relation to dynamics, topology, coarse geometry, and C ˚ -algebras. Math.
Ann., 367(1):785–829, 2017. 10, 73, 74, 75
[18] N. Higson and J. Roe. Analytic K-homology. Oxford University Press,

2000. 22
[19] A. Jaime and R. Willett. Decomposable C ˚ -algebras and K-theory.

Preprint, 2021. 4
[20] G. Kasparov. Hilbert C ˚ -modules: theorems of Stinespring and

Voiculescu. J. Operator Theory, 4:133–150, 1980. 63
[21] E. Kirchberg. Exact C˚ -algebras, tensor products, and the classification

of purely infinite algebras. In Proceedings of the International Congress
of Mathematicians, Vol. 1, 2 (Zürich, 1994), pages 943–954. Birkhäuser,
Basel, 1995. 5
[22] E. C. Lance. Hilbert C ˚ -modules (a toolkit for operator algebraists).

Cambridge University Press, 1995. 8
[23] J. Milnor. Introduction to Algebraic K-theory. Annals of Mathematics

Studies. Princeton University Press, 1971. 8, 10
78
[24] H. Oyono-Oyono and G. Yu. On quantitative operator K-theory. Ann.
Inst. Fourier (Grenoble), 65(2):605–674, 2015. 9, 20, 29, 32
[25] H. Oyono-Oyono and G. Yu. Quantitative K-theory and Künneth for-

mula for operator algebras. J. Funct. Anal., 277(7):2003–2091, 2019. 3,
5
[26] N. C. Phillips. A classification theorem for nuclear purely infinite simple

C ˚ -algebras. Doc. Math., 5:49–114 (electronic), 2000. 5
[27] M. Rørdam. Classification of certain infinite simple C ˚ -algebras. J.

Funct. Anal., 131:415–458, 1995. 4, 6, 9
[28] M. Rørdam. Classification of Nuclear C ˚ -algebras. Springer, 2002. 5,

72
[29] M. Rørdam. The stable and the real rank of Z-absorbing C ˚ -algebras.
Internat. J. Math., 15(10):1065–1084, 2004. 4
[30] M. Rørdam, F. Larsen, and N. Laustsen. An Introduction to K-Theory

for C ˚ -Algebras. Cambridge University Press, 2000. 9
[31] J. Rosenberg and C. Schochet. The Künneth theorem and the universal
coefficient theorem for Kasparov’s generalized K-functor. Duke Math.
J., 55(2):431–474, 1987. 2, 72
[32] A. Sims. Hausdorff étale groupoids and their C ˚ -algebras. In F. Per-

era, editor, Operator algebras and dynamics: groupoids, crossed prod-
ucts, and Rokhlin dimension, Advanced Courses in Mathematics. CRM
Barcelona. Birkhäuser, 2020. 73
[33] G. Skandalis. Une notion de nucléarité en K-théorie (d’après J. Cuntz).

K-Theory, 1(6):549–573, 1988. 2
[34] K. Thomsen. On absorbing extensions. Proc. Amer. Math. Soc.,

129(5):1409–1417, 2000. 16, 63
79
[35] A. Tikuisis, S. White, and W. Winter. Quasidiagonality of nuclear C ˚ -
algebras. Ann. of Math., 185(1):229–284, 2017. 3
[36] J.-L. Tu. La conjecture de Baum-Connes pour les feuilletages

moyennables. K-theory, 17:215–264, 1999. 2
[37] R. Willett. Approximate ideal structures and K-theory. New York J.

Math., 27:1–52, 2021. 3, 5
[38] R. Willett and G. Yu. Controlled KK-theory I: a Milnor exact sequence.

arXiv:2011.10906, 2020. 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 17
[39] R. Willett and G. Yu. Higher Index Theory. Cambridge University

Press, 2020. 7
[40] W. Winter and J. Zacharias. The nuclear dimension of C ˚ -algebras.

Adv. Math., 224(2):461–498, 2010. 3, 10, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72
[41] S. Zhang. A property of purely infinite simple C ˚ -algebras. Proc. Amer.

Math. Soc., 109(3):717–720, 1990. 4
80

Controlled KK-theory II: A Mayer-Vietoris Principle and The UCT

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Controlled KK-theory II: A Mayer-Vietoris Principle and The UCT

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Controlled KK-theory II: a Mayer-Vietoris

arXiv:2104.10766v1 [math.OA] 21 Apr 2021

principle and the UCT

We introduce the notion of a decomposable C ˚ -algebra. Roughly,

2 Controlled KK-groups in the even case 10

4 Homotopies, similarities, and normalization 20

5 The boundary map 33

6 Finite dimensional algebras 55

7 Decomposable C ˚ -algebras and the UCT 62

A Examples of decomposable C ˚ -algebras 66

0 Ñ ExtpK˚ pAq, K˚ pBqq Ñ KKpA, Bq Ñ HompK˚ pAq, K˚ pBqq Ñ 0.

Definition 1.1. A C ˚ -algebra A is decomposable if for every finite subset X

(i) }rh, xs} ď  for all x P X;

(ii) hX Ď Fh and p1 ´ hqX Ď F1´h ;

To get a feeling for this definition, let us give some examples.

Theorem 1.5. Say A is a separable, unital, decomposable C ˚ -algebra such

Theorem 1.7. The following are equivalent:

(i) any unital Kirchberg algebra with zero K-theory is decomposable;

(ii) the UCT holds for all separable nuclear C ˚ -algebras.

Remarks on the proof of Theorem 1.5

KK0 pX, Bq :“ π0 pP pX, Bqq.

In [38, Section 6], we showed that there is a canonical isomorphism

KLpA, Bq – lim KK0 pX, Bq

KKδ0 pY, Aq Ñ KK0 pX, Aq

induced by the inclusion Pδ pY, Bq Ď P pX, Bq takes rpY,δ s to zero.

KKδ0 pY, Aq / KK 0 pFh , Aq ‘ KK 0 pF1´h , Aq (1)

KKδ0 pY, Aq Ñ KK 0 pFh , Aq ‘ KK 0 pF1´h , Aq

KK 1 pF, Aq Ñ KK0 pX, Aq.

However, as K˚ pAq “ 0, and as F , Fh , and F1´h are finite-dimensional, the

¨ ¨ ¨ Ñ KK 1 pF, Aq Ñ KK 0 pA, Aq Ñ KK 0 pFh , Aq ‘ KK 0 pF1´h , Aq Ñ ¨ ¨ ¨ .

Notation and conventions

For K-theory, K˚ pAq :“ K0 pAq ‘ K1 pAq denotes the graded K-theory

Outline of the paper

2 Controlled KK-groups in the even case

Definition 2.1. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , let  ě 0, let

(i) }p} ď κ and }q} ď κ;

(ii) }rp, xs} ď  and }rq, xs} ď  for all x P X;

i.e. P8,κ, pX, Bq is the disjoint union of all the 8

The next lemma is essentially the same as [38, Lemma A.21].

Say now Y and X are subsets of the unit ball of LB ,  ě 0, δ ě 0, κ ě 1

Pn,λ,δ pY, Bq Ď Pn,κ, pX, Bq (2)

for all n. Then we have a canonical forget control map

The next lemma and corollary about idempotents are well-known. We

Lemma 2.3. If p is an idempotent bounded operator on some Hilbert space

}p}2 “ }pp˚ } “ }1 ` aa˚ } “ 1 ` }a}2 .

}1 ´ p}2 “ }p1 ´ pq˚ p1 ´ pq} “ }1 ` a˚ a} “ 1 ` }a}2 “ }p}2 .

Looking now at p ´ p˚ , we see that

whence }p ´ p˚ }2 “ }a}2 ď }p}2 .

Corollary 2.4. If κ ě 1, and p is any idempotent in a C ˚ -algebra with

It will be convenient to formalize a standard construction in C ˚ -algebra

Definition 2.5. Let p be an idempotent in a C ˚ -algebra C. Define z :“

Lemma 2.6. Let p be an idempotent in a C ˚ -algebra C, and assume }p} ď κ

(iii) If X is a self-adjoint subset4 of C1 such that }rp, xs} ď  for all x P X,

(iv) If Iκ “ tp P C | p2 “ p, }p} ď κu, then the map Iκ Ñ I1 that takes p to

}rz ´1 , xs} “ }z ´1 rz, xsz ´1 } ď p4κ ` 2q}x}.

Hence for any x P X,

}rr, xs} ď }rp, xs}}p˚ }}z ´1 } ` }rp˚ , xs}}p}}z ´1 } ` }rz ´1 , xs}}p}}p˚ }

As X consists of contractions and as κ ě 1, this is bounded above by 8κ3 ,

As }zp´1 } ď 1 and }zq´1 } ď 1, we may apply Corollary 2.4 to get

}zp´1 ´ zq´1 } ď }zp´1 }}zq ´ zp }}zq´1 }

Combining this with line (4), we thus get

}r ´ s} ď p2κ ` 4κ3 q}p ´ q}.

(i) }rh, xs} ď for all x P X;

(ii) hX Ď Fh and p1 ´ hqX Ď F1´h ;

KK0 pX, Bq :“ π0 pP pX, Bqq.

KLpA, Bq – lim KK0 pX, Bq

KKδ0 pY, Aq Ñ KK0 pX, Aq

induced by the inclusion Pδ pY, Bq Ď P pX, Bq takes rpY,δ s to zero.

KK 1 pF, Aq Ñ KK0 pX, Aq.

Definition 2.1. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , let ě 0, let

(ii) }rp, xs} ď and }rq, xs} ď for all x P X;

i.e. P8,κ, pX, Bq is the disjoint union of all the 8

Say now Y and X are subsets of the unit ball of LB , ě 0, δ ě 0, κ ě 1

Pn,λ,δ pY, Bq Ď Pn,κ, pX, Bq (2)

(iii) If X is a self-adjoint subset4 of C1 such that }rp, xs} ď for all x P X,

}rz ´1 , xs} “ }z ´1 rz, xsz ´1 } ď p4κ ` 2q}x}.

As X consists of contractions and as κ ě 1, this is bounded above by 8κ3 ,

φ : Pn,κ,δ pX, Bq Ñ Pn,λ, pX, Bq, pp, qq ÞÑ pr, sq.

(ii) }ru, xs} ď and }ru´1 , xs} ď for all a P X.

i.e. U8,κ, pX, Bq is the disjoint union of all the 8

(i) for any k P N, if 1k P Uk,κ, pX, Bq is the identity element, then u „

connects pp0 ‘ 0n , q ‘ 0n q to pp1 ‘ 0n , q ‘ 0n q through P2n,κ3 ,3κ2 pX, Bq. We

Proposition 4.9. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , let ě 0, let

Lemma 4.11. Let X be a subset of the unit ball of LB , ě 0, and n P N. Say

through Pp2k`1qn,2κ, pX, Bq, and is 2κ-Lipschitz.

This homotopy then passes through Pp2k`1qn,2κ,21κ2 pX, Bq, and is 1-

This passes through Pp2k`1qn,2κ, pX, Bq, and is 2κ-Lipschitz.

}rvi´1 , xs} “ }vi´1 rx, vi svi´1 } ď 4 ¨ 12κ ¨ 200κ5 ď p10κq6 .

component as w in Un,κ2 , php1 ´ hqX Y thu, Bq.