What are the crystallographically equivalent sites in a crystal unit cell?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around identifying crystallographically equivalent sites within a crystal unit cell, given specific parameters such as cell edges, angles, and fractional coordinates of atoms. The focus includes theoretical aspects and practical applications related to symmetry operations and Wyckoff positions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about methods to determine all crystallographically equivalent sites for a given unoccupied site within a unit cell.
  • Another participant suggests applying symmetry operations from the relevant group to the specified point to find equivalent positions.
  • A non-expert participant asks if there are simplified tabulations of symmetry operations for each group, expressing confusion over the relevance of Wyckoff positions to their question.
  • A different participant clarifies that Wyckoff positions represent sites with independent symmetry and explains their naming convention based on the number of equivalent sites. They also mention resources for finding these positions and highlight the challenge of determining the correct space group for a crystal.
  • One participant expresses gratitude for the information provided, indicating it was helpful.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants appear to agree on the relevance of symmetry operations and Wyckoff positions in identifying equivalent sites, but there is no consensus on the accessibility of this information for non-experts or the specific methods to apply.

Contextual Notes

The discussion does not resolve the complexity of determining the correct space group or the accessibility of symmetry operation tabulations for non-experts.

Who May Find This Useful

Researchers and students interested in crystallography, particularly those exploring symmetry operations and equivalent site determination in crystal structures.

Useful nucleus
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Given a crystal structure and the cell edges (a,b,c) , angles (alpha, beta, gamma) and the fractional coordinates of all atoms in the unit cell. Also given an arbitrary unoccupied site P by fractional coordinates (s1,s2,s3). How can I determine all the sites that are crystallographically equivalent to P within the single unit cell.

Any help is appreciated.
 
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if you apply the operations of the group to the point, you should find the equivalent positions.
 
For the non-expert like me, are there tabulations of these operations for each group in a simple representation (like matrix multiplication) ?
I searched but what I get is usually the so-called "Wycoff postions" , which I do not know if it is relevant to my question.
 
Last edited:
Yes, the Wyckoff positions are the sets of the sites with independent symmetry. That is, each Wyckoff position is a site with different symmetry than the other Wyckoff positions. The Wyckoff positions are named based on the number of equivalent sites, ie. the 2a position refers to a two sites that are symmetry equivalent. These are tabulated for every space group in various places; you can find lists on the web like this one: http://www.cryst.ehu.es/cgi-bin/cryst/programs/nph-wp-list
The "hard" part is determining which space group is correct for your crystal. The space group is determined by the crystal structure and the coordinates of the atoms. But there are programs written to do that, like the findsym program: http://stokes.byu.edu/findsym.html
 
Thank you very much! That helps a a lot!
 

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