What is a crystal?
- Creators
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Lifshitz, Ron
Abstract
Almost 25 years have passed since Shechtman discovered quasicrystals, and 15 years since the Commission on Aperiodic Crystals of the International Union of Crystallography put forth a provisional definition of the term crystal to mean "any solid having an essentially discrete diffraction diagram." Have we learned enough about crystallinity in the last 25 years, or do we need more time to explore additional physical systems? There is much confusion and contradiction in the literature in using the term crystal. Are we ready now to propose a permanent definition for crystal to be used by all? I argue that time has come to put a sense of order in all the confusion.
Additional Information
© 2007 Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München. I thank S.I. Ben-Abraham for insisting that we reconsider now the definition of crystal, rather than wait for another 10 or 15 years. I also thank the Editor of Zeit. Krist., Walter Steurer, for suggesting to me that I put my thoughts on this matter into writing. Finally, I thank David Mermin for his thoughtful comments on this manuscript. My research in crystallography is currently supported by the Israel Science Foundation through grant number 684/06.Attached Files
Published - _Zeitschrift_fr_Kristallographie_-_Crystalline_Materials__What_is_a_crystal.pdf
Submitted - 0701029.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 88761
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20180810-143050714
- 684/06
- Israel Science Foundation
- Created
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2018-08-13Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field