Symmetry Relationships between Crystal Structures

In crystal chemistry and crystal physics, the relations between the symmetry groups (space groups) of crystalline solids are of special importance. Part 1 of this book presents the necessary mathematical foundations and tools: the fundamentals of crystallography with special emphasis on symmetry, the theory of the crystallographic groups, and the formalisms of the needed crystallographic computations. Part 2 gives an insight into applications to problems in crystal
chemistry. With the aid of numerous examples, it is shown how crystallographic group theory can be used to make evident relationships between crystal structures, to set up a systematic order in the
huge amount of known crystal structures, to predict crystal structures, to analyse phase transitions and topotactic reactions in the solid state, to understand the formation of domains and twins in crystals, and to avoid errors in crystal structure determinations.A broad range of end-of-chapter exercises offers the possibility to apply the learned material. Worked-out solutions to the exercises can be found at the end of the book.

Author Biography

Ulrich Müller was born in Colombia in 1940. He studied chemistry in Germany. His Ph.D. work (1964 – 1966) was performed in Inorganic Chemistry, partly at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, partly at Purdue University, Indiana, USA. After post-doctoral work at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, he was appointed as professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Marburg, Gemany, in 1972. From 1992 to 1999 he was professor of solid state chemistry at
the University of Kassel, Germany, and then returned to the University of Marburg. He is now retired since 2005. He is the author of several textbooks in chemistry for beginners and advanced students.