Dear CCP4ers,

I've asked you about symmetry in stereographic projections of self- rotation functions, because I have in a monoclinic space group with beta=97 a peak for a NCS 7-fold axis at Phi=83, Psi=90, Kappa=51.4. In this self-rotation function, calculated with GLRF, the monoclinic b-axis is oriented from south-pole to north-pole. Thus, with Psi=90, the 7-fold lies in the a,c-plane, and I was wondering wether it points along the c-axis by some symmetry element, since 83=180-97. Pierre Rizkallah pointed to the fact that the self-rotation function is calculated in Patterson space which has an inversion centre, and Ian Tickle has pointed me to the POLARRFN documentation that discusses some of these symmetries. From this, I can, in my case, construct the following symmetry-equivalent positions:

(1) Original Peak: Phi, Psi, Kappa --- > 83, 90, 51.4 (2) General equivalent position: 180+Phi, 180-Psi, -Kappa ---> 263, 90, -51.4 (3) Crystallographic Dyad || Poles: 180+Phi, Psi, Kappa ---> 263, 90, 51.4 (4) (3) combined with (2): Phi, 180-Psi, -Kappa --- > 83, 90, -51.4

Thus, none of these combinations gives a Phi-angle of 97 degrees. However, meanwhile Liang Tong, the author of GLRF, explained to me, that in his convention, a positive Phi angle goes from +X (=a) to -Z (=-c*), which means that Phi=83 points really along the (-)c-axis (thus confirming my initial hypothesis).

             7-fold
              /
             /
            /
           b-------------- a
          /|
         / |
        /  |
       /   |
      c    c*

So, many thanks to all of you who replied and helped me to solve this puzzle! I would still be interested in a textbook or paper discussing symmetry in stereographic projections, though ...

Best regards,

Dirk.

Am 22.11.2007 um 14:40 schrieb Dirk Kostrewa:

Dear CCP4ers,

does any of you have a good reference describing the symmetry of crystallographic stereographic projections? There is a lot of literature describing rotational symmetry in Eulerian angular space, but I'm not aware of any for polar angles. In particular, I've calculated a self-rotation function for a crystal in space group C2 with a monoclinic beta-angle of 97 degrees in a convention where Phi is the angle from the x-axis (=a-axis) and Psi is the angle from the monoclinic b-axis. I get a beautiful peak for a seven-fold rotation axis at Phi=83 degrees and Psi=90 degrees. I think that the seven-fold NCS-axis should point along the crystallographic c-axis, but then I would expect Phi=97 and Psi=90. Presumably, there must be a symmetry with the term Phi' = 180-Phi, but I would like to _know_ it. I would be grateful for any pointer to a good reference describing symmetry in crystallographic stereographic projections, also for future cases.

Best regards,

Dirk.

*******************************************************
Dirk Kostrewa
Gene Center, A 5.07
Ludwig-Maximilians-University
Feodor-Lynen-Str. 25
81377 Munich
Germany
Phone:  +49-89-2180-76845
Fax:    +49-89-2180-76999
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*******************************************************




*******************************************************
Dirk Kostrewa
Gene Center, A 5.07
Ludwig-Maximilians-University
Feodor-Lynen-Str. 25
81377 Munich
Germany
Phone:  +49-89-2180-76845
Fax:    +49-89-2180-76999
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*******************************************************


Reply via email to