EN
In functional analysis, approximative properties of an object become precise in its ultrapower. We discuss this idea and its consequences for automorphisms of II₁ factors. Here are some sample results: (1) an automorphism is approximately inner if and only if its ultrapower is ℵ₀-locally inner; (2) the ultrapower of an outer automorphism is always outer; (3) for unital *-homomorphisms from a separable nuclear C*-algebra into an ultrapower of a II₁ factor, equality of the induced traces implies unitary equivalence. All statements are proved using operator-algebraic techniques, but in the last section of the paper we indicate how the underlying principle is related to theorems of Henson's positive bounded logic.