Abstract
One of the most important applications and actual drivers for new insights in the structure of mathematical groups is crystallography. It is also one of the areas were mathematics predicted the physical reality long before experiments could really contribute. This changed about a hundred years ago with the emergence of X-ray diffraction which however turned out to still heavily rely on Mathematics that was now needed to solve the phase problem. New challenges in the interpretation came to light when quasi-crystals were discovered and thus opened the scene for further and deeper mathematical insights. This chapter informally surveys the essential mathematics of X-ray crystallography emphasizing the role of Fourier analysis in this context and, based on several highly recommended sources, intends to give a straight introduction to this subject which is often only found in scattered locations dispersed in the literature.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Dynamical Systems, Number Theory and Applications |
| Subtitle of host publication | A Festschrift in Honor of Armin Leutbecher's 80th Birthday |
| Publisher | World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte Ltd |
| Pages | 197-209 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9789814699877 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789814699860 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Apr 2016 |