Debye subsequently recognized that each oscillator is intimately coupled to its neighboring oscillators at all times. Thus, by replacing Einstein's identical uncoupled oscillators with the same number of coupled oscillators, Debye correlated the elastic vibrations of a one-dimensional solid with the number of mathematically special modes of vibration of a stretched string (see figure). The pure tone of lowest pitch or frequency is referred to as the fundamental and the multiples of that frequency are called its harmonic overtones. He assigned to one of the oscillators the frequency of the fundamental vibration of the whole block of solid. He assigned to the remaining oscillators the frequencies of the harmonics of that fundamental, with the highest of all these frequencies being limited by the motion of the smallest primary unit.