such segment being longer or shorter than another. That is rational is a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of some real number c, and integers m and n, such that a = mc and b = nc. Assuming for simplicity that a and b are positive, one can say that a ruler, marked off in units of length c, could be used to measure out both a line segment of length a, and one of length b. That is, there is a common unit of length in terms of which a and b can both be measured; this is the origin of the term. Otherwise the pair a and b are incommensurable. In group theory In group theory, two subgroups Γ1 and Γ2 of a group G are said to be commensurable if the intersection Γ1 ∩ Γ2 is of finite index in both Γ1 and Γ2. Example: Let a and b be nonzero real numbers. Then the subgroup of the real numbers R generated by a is commensurable with the subgroup generated by b if and only if the real numbers a and b are commensurable, in the sense that a/b is rational. Thus the group-theoretic notion of commensurability generalizes the concept for real numbers. There is a similar notion for two groups which are not given as subgroups of the same group. Two groups G1 and G2 are (abstractly) commensurable if there are subgroups H1 ⊂ G1 and H2 ⊂ G2 of finite index such that H1 is isomorphic to H2. In topology Two path-connected topological spaces are sometimes said to be commensurable if they have homeomorphic finite-sheeted covering spaces. Depending on the type of space under consideration, one might want to use homotopy equivalences or diffeomorphisms instead of homeomorphisms in the definition. If two spaces are commensurable, then their fundamental groups are commensurable. Example: any two closed surfaces of genus at least 2 are commensurable with each other. References Real numbers Infinite group theory