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Wyckoff Positions
In crystallography, a Wyckoff position is a point belonging to a set of points for which site symmetry groups are conjugate subgroups of the space group. Crystallography tables give the Wyckoff positions for different space groups. For any point in a unit cell, given by fractional coordinates, you can apply a symmetry operation to this point. In some cases it will move to new coordinates, while in other cases the point will remain unaffected. For example, reflecting across a mirror plane will switch all the points left and right of the mirror plane, but points exactly on the mirror plane itself will not move. We can test every symmetry operation in the crystal's point group and keep track of whether the specified point is invariant under the operation or not. The finite list of all symmetry operations which leave the given point invariant taken together make up another group, which is known as the ''site symmetry group'' of that point. By definition, all points with the same site s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crystallography
Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics ( condensed matter physics). The word "crystallography" is derived from the Greek word κρύσταλλος (''krystallos'') "clear ice, rock-crystal", with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and γράφειν (''graphein'') "to write". In July 2012, the United Nations recognised the importance of the science of crystallography by proclaiming that 2014 would be the International Year of Crystallography. denote a direction vector (in real space). * Coordinates in ''angle brackets'' or ''chevrons'' such as <100> denote a ''family'' of directions which are related by symmetry operations. In the cubic crystal system for example, would mean 00 10 01/nowiki> or the negative of any of those directions. * Miller indices in ''parentheses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symmetry Group
In group theory, the symmetry group of a geometric object is the group of all transformations under which the object is invariant, endowed with the group operation of composition. Such a transformation is an invertible mapping of the ambient space which takes the object to itself, and which preserves all the relevant structure of the object. A frequent notation for the symmetry group of an object ''X'' is ''G'' = Sym(''X''). For an object in a metric space, its symmetries form a subgroup of the isometry group of the ambient space. This article mainly considers symmetry groups in Euclidean geometry, but the concept may also be studied for more general types of geometric structure. Introduction We consider the "objects" possessing symmetry to be geometric figures, images, and patterns, such as a wallpaper pattern. For symmetry of physical objects, one may also take their physical composition as part of the pattern. (A pattern may be specified formally as a scalar fiel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subgroup
In group theory, a branch of mathematics, given a group ''G'' under a binary operation ∗, a subset ''H'' of ''G'' is called a subgroup of ''G'' if ''H'' also forms a group under the operation ∗. More precisely, ''H'' is a subgroup of ''G'' if the restriction of ∗ to is a group operation on ''H''. This is often denoted , read as "''H'' is a subgroup of ''G''". The trivial subgroup of any group is the subgroup consisting of just the identity element. A proper subgroup of a group ''G'' is a subgroup ''H'' which is a proper subset of ''G'' (that is, ). This is often represented notationally by , read as "''H'' is a proper subgroup of ''G''". Some authors also exclude the trivial group from being proper (that is, ). If ''H'' is a subgroup of ''G'', then ''G'' is sometimes called an overgroup of ''H''. The same definitions apply more generally when ''G'' is an arbitrary semigroup, but this article will only deal with subgroups of groups. Subgroup tests Suppose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Group
In mathematics, physics and chemistry, a space group is the symmetry group of an object in space, usually in three dimensions. The elements of a space group (its symmetry operations) are the rigid transformations of an object that leave it unchanged. In three dimensions, space groups are classified into 219 distinct types, or 230 types if chiral copies are considered distinct. Space groups are discrete cocompact groups of isometries of an oriented Euclidean space in any number of dimensions. In dimensions other than 3, they are sometimes called Bieberbach groups. In crystallography, space groups are also called the crystallographic or Fedorov groups, and represent a description of the symmetry of the crystal. A definitive source regarding 3-dimensional space groups is the ''International Tables for Crystallography'' . History Space groups in 2 dimensions are the 17 wallpaper groups which have been known for several centuries, though the proof that the list was complete was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unit Cell
In geometry, biology, mineralogy and solid state physics, a unit cell is a repeating unit formed by the vectors spanning the points of a lattice. Despite its suggestive name, the unit cell (unlike a unit vector, for example) does not necessarily have unit size, or even a particular size at all. Rather, the primitive cell is the closest analogy to a unit vector, since it has a determined size for a given lattice and is the basic building block from which larger cells are constructed. The concept is used particularly in describing crystal structure in two and three dimensions, though it makes sense in all dimensions. A lattice can be characterized by the geometry of its unit cell, which is a section of the tiling (a parallelogram or parallelepiped) that generates the whole tiling using only translations. There are two special cases of the unit cell: the primitive cell and the conventional cell. The primitive cell is a unit cell corresponding to a single lattice point, it is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fractional Coordinates
In crystallography, a fractional coordinate system (crystal coordinate system) is a coordinate system in which the basis vectors used to the describe the space are the lattice vectors of a crystal (periodic) pattern. The selection of an origin and a basis define a unit cell, a parallelotope (i.e., generalization of a parallelogram (2D) or parallelepiped (3D) in higher dimensions) defined by the lattice basis vectors \mathbf _1, \mathbf _2, \dots, \mathbf _d where d is the dimension of the space. These basis vectors are described by lattice parameters (lattice constants) consisting of the lengths of the lattice basis vectors a_1, a_2, \dots, a_d and the angles between them \alpha_1, \alpha_2, \dots, \alpha_. Most cases in crystallography involve two- or three-dimensional space in which the basis vectors \mathbf _1, \mathbf _2, \mathbf _3 are commonly displayed as \mathbf, \mathbf, \mathbf with their lengths and angles denoted by a, b, c and \alpha, \beta, \gamma respectively ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symmetry Operation
In group theory, geometry, representation theory and molecular symmetry, a symmetry operation is a transformation of an object that leaves an object looking the same after it has been carried out. For example, as transformations of an object in space, rotations, reflections and inversions are all symmetry operations. Such symmetry operations are performed with respect to symmetry elements (for example, a point, line or plane). In the context of molecular symmetry, a symmetry operation is a permutation of atoms such that the molecule or crystal is transformed into a state indistinguishable from the starting state. Two basic facts follow from this definition, which emphasizes its usefulness. # Physical properties must be invariant with respect to symmetry operations. # Symmetry operations can be collected together in groups which are isomorphic to permutation groups. In the context of molecular symmetry, quantum wavefunctions need not be invariant, because the operation can multiply t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Point Group
In geometry, a point group is a mathematical group of symmetry operations ( isometries in a Euclidean space) that have a fixed point in common. The coordinate origin of the Euclidean space is conventionally taken to be a fixed point, and every point group in dimension ''d'' is then a subgroup of the orthogonal group O(''d''). Point groups are used to describe the symmetries of geometric figures and physical objects such as molecules. Each point group can be represented as sets of orthogonal matrices ''M'' that transform point ''x'' into point ''y'' according to Each element of a point group is either a rotation (determinant of ''M'' = 1), or it is a reflection or improper rotation (determinant of ''M'' = −1). The geometric symmetries of crystals are described by space groups, which allow translations and contain point groups as subgroups. Discrete point groups in more than one dimension come in infinite families, but from the crystallographic restriction theor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conjugacy Class
In mathematics, especially group theory, two elements a and b of a group are conjugate if there is an element g in the group such that b = gag^. This is an equivalence relation whose equivalence classes are called conjugacy classes. In other words, each conjugacy class is closed under b = gag^. for all elements g in the group. Members of the same conjugacy class cannot be distinguished by using only the group structure, and therefore share many properties. The study of conjugacy classes of non-abelian groups is fundamental for the study of their structure. For an abelian group, each conjugacy class is a set containing one element (singleton set). Functions that are constant for members of the same conjugacy class are called class functions. Definition Let G be a group. Two elements a, b \in G are conjugate if there exists an element g \in G such that gag^ = b, in which case b is called of a and a is called a conjugate of b. In the case of the general linear group \operat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macroscopic single crystals are usually identifiable by their geometrical shape, consisting of flat faces with specific, characteristic orientations. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography. The process of crystal formation via mechanisms of crystal growth is called crystallization or solidification. The word ''crystal'' derives from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning both "ice" and "rock crystal", from (), "icy cold, frost". Examples of large crystals include snowflakes, diamonds, and table salt. Most inorganic solids are not crystals but polycrystals, i.e. many microscopic crystals fused together into a single solid. Polycrystals include most metals, rocks, ceramics, and ice. A third category ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Identity Operation
Graph of the identity function on the real numbers In mathematics, an identity function, also called an identity relation, identity map or identity transformation, is a function that always returns the value that was used as its argument, unchanged. That is, when is the identity function, the equality is true for all values of to which can be applied. Definition Formally, if is a set, the identity function on is defined to be a function with as its domain and codomain, satisfying In other words, the function value in the codomain is always the same as the input element in the domain . The identity function on is clearly an injective function as well as a surjective function, so it is bijective. The identity function on is often denoted by . In set theory, where a function is defined as a particular kind of binary relation, the identity function is given by the identity relation, or ''diagonal'' of . Algebraic properties If is any function, then we have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trivial Group
In mathematics, a trivial group or zero group is a group consisting of a single element. All such groups are isomorphic, so one often speaks of the trivial group. The single element of the trivial group is the identity element and so it is usually denoted as such: 0, 1, or e depending on the context. If the group operation is denoted \, \cdot \, then it is defined by e \cdot e = e. The similarly defined is also a group since its only element is its own inverse, and is hence the same as the trivial group. The trivial group is distinct from the empty set, which has no elements, hence lacks an identity element, and so cannot be a group. Definitions Given any group G, the group consisting of only the identity element is a subgroup of G, and, being the trivial group, is called the of G. The term, when referred to "G has no nontrivial proper subgroups" refers to the only subgroups of G being the trivial group \ and the group G itself. Properties The trivial group is cycl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
