TITLE: C$^*$-algebras isomorphic after tensoring
QUESTION [13 upvotes]: From the negative answer to this question we know that C$^*$-algebras that are isomorphic after tensoring with $M_n$ for all $n\geq 2$ need not be isomorphic. So what happens when we strengthen this? 
In the following, if $\mathcal A\subset B(\mathcal H)$ and $\mathcal B\subset B(\mathcal K)$ then the minimum tensor product $\mathcal A\otimes_\textrm{min} \mathcal B$ is the closure of the algebraic tensor product $\mathcal A\odot \mathcal B$ in the $B(\mathcal H\otimes \mathcal K)$ norm. 

Question 1: Let $\mathcal A,\mathcal B$ be C$^*$-algebras such that for all C$^*$-algebras $\mathcal C$ non-isomorphic to $\mathbb C$
  $$\mathcal A\otimes_\textrm{min} \mathcal C \simeq \mathcal B\otimes_\textrm{min} \mathcal C $$ Does this imply $\mathcal A\simeq \mathcal B$?

Secondly, can one accomplish this with a single C$^*$-algebra.

Question 2: Does there exist a C$^*$-algebra $\mathcal C$ not isomorphic to $\mathbb C$ such that for all C$^*$-algebras $A,B$ we have
  $$
\mathcal A \otimes_\textrm{min} \mathcal C \simeq \mathcal B\otimes_\textrm{min} \mathcal C \ \Rightarrow \ \mathcal A  \simeq\mathcal B\ ?
$$

One can also ask these questions with the max tensor product.

REPLY [4 votes]: The answer to question 1 is `yes': Let $A$ and $B$ be any $C^*$-algebras. Let $N$ be a simple $C^*$-algebra of such high cardinality that it does not embed into either $A$ or $B$. Then take $C:=N\oplus\mathbb{C}$.
We have
$$
A\otimes C \cong (A\otimes N) \oplus A, \quad
B\otimes C \cong (B\otimes N) \oplus B.
$$
Let $\varphi\colon (A\otimes N) \oplus A\to (B\otimes N) \oplus B$ be an isomorphism.
The choice of $N$ ensures that no quotient of $A\otimes N$ embeds into $B$.
Thus, $\varphi$ maps the summand $A\otimes N$ to $B\otimes N$.
Applying the same argument to the inverse of $\varphi$, we see that $\varphi$ is given by an isomorphism $A\otimes N\cong B\otimes N$ and an isomorphism $A\cong B$.
This also answers question 2 if one puts some restrictions on the cardinality (or better: density character) of the $C^*$-algebras. For instance, for separable $C^*$-algebras, one could use the test-algebra $C:=\mathcal{R}\oplus\mathbb{C}$, where $\mathcal{R}$ is the hyperfinite II-1 factor.