Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
We will give a characterization of stable real ${{C}^{*}}$ -algebras analogous to the one given for complex
${{C}^{*}}$ -algebras by Hjelmborg and Rørdam. Using this result, we will prove that any real
${{C}^{*}}$ -algebra satisfying the corona factorization property is stable if and only if its complexification is stable. Real
${{C}^{*}}$ -algebras satisfying the corona factorization property include
$\text{AF}$ -algebras and purely infinite C*-algebras. We will also provide an example of a simple unstable C*-algebra, the complexification of which is stable.