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Each crystallographic point group defines the (geometric) crystal class of the crystal. The point group of a crystal determines, among other things, the directional variation of physical properties that arise from its structure, including optical properties such as birefringency , or electro-optical features such as the Pockels effect .
These groups are characterized by i) an n-fold proper rotation axis C n; ii) n 2-fold proper rotation axes C 2 normal to C n; iii) a mirror plane σ h normal to C n and containing the C 2 s. The D 1h group is the same as the C 2v group in the pyramidal groups section. The D 8h table reflects the 2007 discovery of errors in older references. [4]
A reflection plane m within the point groups can be replaced by a glide plane, labeled as a, b, or c depending on which axis the glide is along. There is also the n glide, which is a glide along the half of a diagonal of a face, and the d glide, which is along a quarter of either a face or space diagonal of the unit cell.
Its elements are the elements of group C n, with elements σ v, C n σ v, C n 2 σ v, ..., C n n−1 σ v added. D n. Generated by element C n and 180° rotation U = σ h σ v around a direction in the plane perpendicular to the axis. Its elements are the elements of group C n, with elements U, C n U, C n 2 U, ..., C n n − 1 U added. D nd ...
For example, in its ground (N) electronic state the ethylene molecule C 2 H 4 has D 2h point group symmetry whereas in the excited (V) state it has D 2d symmetry. To treat these two states together it is necessary to allow torsion and to use the double group of the permutation-inversion group G 16 .
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 y = Mx. Each element of a point group is either a rotation (determinant of M = 1), or it is a reflection or improper ...
The entries consist of characters, the traces of the matrices representing group elements of the column's class in the given row's group representation. In chemistry, crystallography, and spectroscopy, character tables of point groups are used to classify e.g. molecular vibrations according to their symmetry, and to predict whether a transition ...
A crystal system is a set of point groups in which the point groups themselves and their corresponding space groups are assigned to a lattice system. Of the 32 crystallographic point groups that exist in three dimensions, most are assigned to only one lattice system, in which case both the crystal and lattice systems have the same name. However ...