Symmetrization of Cuntz’ Picture for the Kasparov KK-Bifunctor

Abstract

Given C^*-algebras A and B, we generalize the notion of a quasi-homomorphism from A to B in the sense of Cuntz by considering quasi-homomorphisms from some C^*-algebra C to B such that C surjects onto A and the two maps forming the quasi-homomorphism agree on the kernel of this surjection. Under an additional assumption, the group of homotopy classes of such generalized quasi-homomorphisms coincides with KK(A, B). This makes the definition of the Kasparov bifunctor slightly more symmetric and provides more flexibility in constructing elements of KK-groups. These generalized quasi-homomorphisms can be viewed as pairs of maps directly from A (instead of various C’s), but these maps need not be *-homomorphisms.