Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
Equivalence of superspace groups
Sander van Smaalen1, Branton J Campbell, Harold T Stokes
1Laboratory of Crystallography, University of Bayreuth, Germany. smash@uni-bayreuth.de
Abstract:
An algorithm is presented which determines the equivalence of two settings of a (3 + d)-dimensional superspace group (d = 1, 2, 3). The algorithm has been implemented as a web tool findssg on SSG(3+d)D, providing the transformation of any user-given superspace group to the standard setting of this superspace group in SSG(3+d)D. It is shown how the standard setting of a superspace group can be directly obtained by an appropriate transformation of the external-space lattice vectors (the basic structure unit cell) and a transformation of the internal-space lattice vectors (new modulation wavevectors are linear combinations of old modulation wavevectors plus a three-dimensional reciprocal-lattice vector). The need for non-standard settings in some cases and the desirability of employing standard settings of superspace groups in other cases are illustrated by an analysis of the symmetries of a series of compounds, comparing published and standard settings and the transformations between them. A compilation is provided of standard settings of compounds with two- and three-dimensional modulations. The problem of settings of superspace groups is discussed for incommensurate composite crystals and for chiral superspace groups.
Related Concept Videos
Equivalent Couples
Two couples are considered to be equivalent if they produce the same rotational effect on a rigid body. In other words, the two couples have the same magnitude and act in the same direction, causing the same angular displacement or acceleration in the body.
For instance, consider two couples lying in the plane of the page, with one having a pair of equal...
¹H NMR Chemical Shift Equivalence: Homotopic and Heterotopic Protons
Crystallographic Point Groups
Superposition Theorem
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
Dimensionless Groups in Fluid Mechanics

