Translation Invariant Asymptotic Homomorphisms and Extensions of <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis>*-Algebras

Let A and B be C*-algebras, let A be separable, and let B be σ-unital and stable. We introduce the notion of translation invariance for asymptotic homomorphisms from S A = C₀(?) ? A to B and show that the Connes—Higson construction applied to any extension of A by B is homotopic to a translation invariant asymptotic homomorphism. In the other direction we give a construction which produces extensions of A by B from a translation invariant asymptotic homomorphism. This leads to our main result that the homotopy classes of extensions coincide with the homotopy classes of translation invariant asymptotic homomorphisms.