CONTINUOUS TRACE C*-ALGEBRAS, GAUGE GROUPS AND RATIONALIZATION

Let \zeta be an n-dimensional complex matrix bundle over a compact metric space X and let A_\zeta denote the C*-algebra of sections of this bundle. We determine the rational homotopy type as an H-space of UA_\zeta, the group of unitaries of A_\zeta. The answer turns out to be independent of the bundle \zeta and depends only upon n and the rational cohomology of X. We prove analogous results for the gauge group and the projective gauge group of a principal bundle over a compact metric space X.
Comment: Final version. To appear in J. of Topology and Analysis. Garbled text in abstract removed