oh duh! All cycles can be COUNTED – that is: INTEGERS – even if “Cycle 1 and Cycle 2” are not identical in every way, so long as they can be _counted as_ “a completed cycle” (that is: 1). So using discrete math is fine with cycles. Beautiful – and so, Rings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cycles?fbclid=IwAR1lxgk3xj54vwBHt6hGTKlN8_iJS2MLmjLOQZtKxqQfav_xvfmpNIyxgoc