[Math] sequence that contains every rational number once, but with the “simplest” fractions first

rational numberssequences-and-series

The Calkin-Wilf sequence contains every positive rational number exactly once:

1/1, 1/2, 2/1, 1/3, 3/2, 2/3, 3/1, 1/4, 4/3, 3/5, 5/2, 2/5, 5/3, 3/4, ….

I'd consider 5/1 to be a "simpler" ratio than 8/5, but it appears later in the series.

  1. Is there a mathematical term for the "simpleness" of a ratio? It might be something like the numerator times the denominator, or maybe there are other ways to measure.

  2. Is there a sequence that contains all the positive rational numbers, but with the "simpleness" of the ratios monotonically increasing?

(Small integer ratios are found in Just intonation, polyrhythm, orbital resonance, etc.)

If you use the Calkin-Wilf sequence with the num*den measure, for instance, it looks like this:

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Best Answer

A common measure of how "complicated" a (reduced) fraction is is the height:

Definition. Let $\frac{r}{s}$ be a rational number, with $\gcd(r,s)=1$. The height of $\frac{r}{s}$ is $\mathrm{ht}\left(\frac{r}{s}\right)=\max\{|r|,|s|\}$.

Among those of the same height, you can order them by comparing the minimum. For those with the same minimum, you can compare values. So one possibility is:

If $\frac{r}{s}$ and $\frac{x}{y}$ are positive rationals with $\gcd(r,s)=\gcd(x,y)=1$, then we say $\frac{r}{s}\preceq \frac{x}{y}$ if and only if

  1. $\mathrm{ht}(\frac{r}{s})\lt \mathrm{ht}(\frac{x}{y})$; or
  2. $\mathrm{ht}(\frac{r}{s}) = \mathrm{ht}(\frac{x}{y})$ and $\min(r,s)\lt \min(x,y)$; or
  3. $\mathrm{ht}(\frac{r}{s})=\mathrm{ht}(\frac{x}{y})$, and $\min(r,s)=\min(x,y)$; and $\frac{r}{s}\leq \frac{x}{y}$.

You would get:

1/1, 1/2, 2/1, 1/3, 3/1, 2/3, 3/2, 1/4, 4/1, 3/4, 4/3, 1/5, 5/1, 2/5, 5/2, 3/5, 5/3, 4/5, 5/4, 1/6, 6/1, 5/6, 6/5, ...

Don't know about a closed formula, though.

Note/Clarification: The height is very standard, especially in Diophantine Analysis and Arithmetic Geometry.

I don't know about the rest of the order I present, though it seems like a natural extension (or one could prefer listing larger rationals first in point 3. Inserting the negatives would also allow for several small variations.

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