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2026-06-03 11:46:43 UTC
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John Carlos Baez on Nostr: - there are many potential applications of category theory to music theory, since ...

- there are many potential applications of category theory to music theory, since category theory is all about abstract patterns and so is music. I think this subject will explode as people realize how many interesting things there are to do.

Mazzola's blockbuster 3-volume book The Topos of Music covers a lot of interesting material. But I'm actually more interested in Popoff, Andreatta and Ehresmann's work on how abstract patterns get instantiated in more concrete ones:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326873951_Relational_poly-Klumpenhouwer_networks_for_transformational_and_voice-leading_analysis

I want to write about this sometime - it takes a little while to explain, so I won't try now.

Also, Tymoczko is currently starting to use groupoids: