Just intonation subgroup
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- This revision was by author genewardsmith and made on 2010-05-21 02:33:27 UTC.
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Original Wikitext content:
By a just intonation subgroup is meant a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_abelian_group|group]] generated by a finite set of positive rational numbers via arbitrary multiplications and divisions. Any such group will be contained in a [[Harmonic Limit|p-limit]] group for some minimal choice of prime p, which is the prime limit of the subgroup. It is only when the group in question is not the entire p-limit group that we have a just intonation subgroup in the strict sense. Such subgroups come in two flavors: finite [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_a_subgroup|index]] and infinite index, where intuitively speaking the index measures the relative size of the subgroup within the entire p-limit group. For example, the subgroups generated by 4 and 3, by 2 and 9, and by 4 and 6 all have index 2 in the full 3-limit (Pythagorean) group. Half of the 3-limit intervals will belong to any one of them, and half will not, and all three groups are distinct. On the other hand, the group generated by 2, 3, and 7 is of infinite index in the full 7-limit group, which is generated by 2, 3, 5 and 7. A canonical naming system for just intonation subgroups is to give a [[Normal lists|normal interval list]] for the generators of the group, which will also show the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rank_of_an_abelian_group|rank]] of the group by the number of generators in the list.
Original HTML content:
<html><head><title>Just intonation subgroups</title></head><body>By a just intonation subgroup is meant a <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_abelian_group" rel="nofollow">group</a> generated by a finite set of positive rational numbers via arbitrary multiplications and divisions. Any such group will be contained in a <a class="wiki_link" href="/Harmonic%20Limit">p-limit</a> group for some minimal choice of prime p, which is the prime limit of the subgroup. <br /> <br /> It is only when the group in question is not the entire p-limit group that we have a just intonation subgroup in the strict sense. Such subgroups come in two flavors: finite <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_a_subgroup" rel="nofollow">index</a> and infinite index, where intuitively speaking the index measures the relative size of the subgroup within the entire p-limit group. For example, the subgroups generated by 4 and 3, by 2 and 9, and by 4 and 6 all have index 2 in the full 3-limit (Pythagorean) group. Half of the 3-limit intervals will belong to any one of them, and half will not, and all three groups are distinct. On the other hand, the group generated by 2, 3, and 7 is of infinite index in the full 7-limit group, which is generated by 2, 3, 5 and 7.<br /> <br /> A canonical naming system for just intonation subgroups is to give a <a class="wiki_link" href="/Normal%20lists">normal interval list</a> for the generators of the group, which will also show the <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rank_of_an_abelian_group" rel="nofollow">rank</a> of the group by the number of generators in the list.</body></html>