Why there is no 5- or 7-fold rotation symmetry in

crystals?
The symmetry will be occurring if we rotate the cell and it therefore gets back to its
original shape, the n-fold can be representing as the number of times we can rotate a
crystal with n degrees and gives us the same original shape.

Let us choose the rotation axis to be the 𝑧 axis and consider a point 𝑟⃗ = 𝑥𝑖̂ + 𝑦𝑗̂ +
𝑧𝑘. Then a rotation by 𝜃 would map that point to:
̂

From the figure, to rotate a vector in 2D representing the point r with 𝜃

𝑥 = 𝑟 cos 𝜙

𝑦 = 𝑟 sin 𝜙

Then the rotated coordinates 𝑥 ′ + 𝑦 ′ are:

𝑥 ′ = 𝑟 cos(𝜙 + 𝜃)

𝑦 ′ = 𝑟 sin(𝜙 + 𝜃)

From trigonometry (cos(𝐴 + 𝐵) = cos 𝐴 cos 𝐵 − sin 𝐴 sin 𝐵, sin(𝐴 + 𝐵) = sin 𝐴 cos 𝐵 +
sin 𝐵 cos 𝐴):

𝑥 ′ = 𝑟 (cos 𝜙 cos 𝜃 − sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃)

𝑦 ′ = 𝑟 (sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃 + cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃)

And by first two equations:

𝑥 ′ = cos 𝜃 (𝑟 cos 𝜙) − sin 𝜃 (𝑟 sin 𝜙)

𝑥 ′ = 𝑥 cos 𝜃 − 𝑦 sin 𝜃
𝑦 ′ = sin 𝜃 (𝑟 sin 𝜙) + cos 𝜃 (𝑟 cos 𝜙)

𝑦 ′ = 𝑦 sin 𝜃 + 𝑥 cos 𝜃

To convert the two last result equations to matrix, we can say:

 cos 𝜃 − sin 𝜃 𝑥 𝑥′
( ) (𝑦 ) = ( ′ )
sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 𝑦

Now if the vector is in 3D, and we want to rotate about the 𝑧 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠, then the
equations represent the rotate are:

𝑥 ′ = 𝑥 cos 𝜃 − 𝑦 sin 𝜃

𝑦 ′ = 𝑦 sin 𝜃 + 𝑥 cos 𝜃
𝑧′ = 𝑧

And the matrix representing the equations in 3-coordinate system:

cos 𝜃 − sin 𝜃 0 𝑥 𝑥′
( sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 0) (𝑦) = (𝑦 ′ )
0 0 1 𝑧 𝑧′
Now if we back to our point, 𝑟⃗ = 𝑥𝑖̂ + 𝑦𝑗̂ + 𝑧𝑘̂, the new equation for it after rotation is:

𝑟⃗ ′ = 𝑥 ′ 𝑖̂ + 𝑦 ′ 𝑗̂ + 𝑧 ′ 𝑘̂

𝑟⃗ ′ = (𝑥 cos 𝜃 − 𝑦 sin 𝜃)𝑖̂ + (𝑦 sin 𝜃 + 𝑥 cos 𝜃)𝑗̂ + 𝑧𝑘̂

𝑥
This implies that the transformation is equivalent to multiplication of (𝑦) with the
𝑧
cos 𝜃 − sin 𝜃 0
rotation matrix 𝑅 = ( sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 0).
0 0 1
𝑥 𝑥′
Essentially, a point 𝑟⃗ = (𝑦) is rotated to 𝑟⃗ = (𝑦 ′ ) = 𝑅𝑟⃗.
′

𝑧 𝑧′
For an 𝑛 fold rotation axis, we should recover the same structure after rotating by
2𝜋
𝜃= (2𝜋 will represent the full rotation until the structure gets back to the original, as
𝑛
we know that the circle has 2𝜋 = 360°, and 𝑛 will represent the number of rotating
process)

In the crystal, we don't really deal with vectors on 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧. Rather, we are dealing
with the Bravas lattices and the vectors representing it. 𝑎⃗1 , 𝑎⃗2 , 𝑎⃗3 .

These can be written in terms of 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 directions as some:

𝑎⃗1 = 𝑎1𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝑎2𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝑎3𝑧 𝑘̂

𝑎⃗2 = 𝑎2𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝑎2𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝑎2𝑧 𝑘̂

𝑎⃗3 = 𝑎3𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝑎3𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝑎3𝑧 𝑘̂

These three vectors should span all of space as they are linearly independent to
makes a unit cell. (The volume given by three vectors [given by (𝑎⃗1 . (𝑎⃗2 × 𝑎⃗3 )] should
never has zero value)

Let the unit cell A in the bravas space, if we want make a matrix representing unit
cell (A), it would be:
 𝑎1𝑥 𝑎1𝑦 𝑎1𝑧
𝑎
𝐴 = ( 2𝑥 𝑎2𝑦 𝑎2𝑧 )
𝑎3𝑥 𝑎3𝑦 𝑎3𝑧

we would know it to most be invertible (i.e., 𝐴−1 exist) because:

𝑎𝑑𝑗 (𝐴)
𝐴−1 =
det 𝐴
𝐴−1 is exist if det 𝐴 ≠ 0

And we know that det 𝐴 = 𝑎⃗1 . (𝑎⃗2 × 𝑎⃗3 ) is the same equation for the volume given by 3
vectors, and there most be a volume for the unit cell.

Now we can write the position vector 𝑟⃗ = 𝑥𝑖̂ + 𝑦𝑗̂ + 𝑧𝑘̂ in Bravas space as 𝑐1 𝑎⃗1 + 𝑐2 𝑎⃗2 +
𝑐3 𝑎⃗3 , where 𝑐1 , 𝑐2 , 𝑐3 satisfies:
𝑐1 𝑥
𝑐
𝐴 ( 2 ) = (𝑦 )
𝑐3 𝑧
Returning back to rotations, we previously had 𝑥𝑖̂ + 𝑦𝑗̂ + 𝑧𝑘̂ be rotated to 𝑥 ′ 𝑖̂ + 𝑦 ′ 𝑗̂ +
𝑥 𝑥′
𝑧 𝑘 where 𝑅 (𝑦) = (𝑦 ′ ), If we however want to write 𝑟⃗ and 𝑟⃗ ′ in terms of 𝑎⃗1,2,3 (Bravas
′ ̂
𝑧 𝑧′
directions and Bravas space), we’d have:

𝑟⃗ = 𝑐1 𝑎⃗1 + 𝑐2 𝑎⃗2 + 𝑐3 𝑎⃗3

𝑟⃗ ′ = 𝑐1′ 𝑎⃗1 + 𝑐2′ 𝑎⃗2 + 𝑐3′ 𝑎⃗3

𝑐1 𝑥 𝑐1′ 𝑥′
Where:𝐴 (𝑐2 ) = (𝑦) and 𝐴 (𝑐2 ) = (𝑦 ′ )
′
𝑐3 𝑧 𝑐3′ 𝑧′

Therefore:

𝑥 𝑥′ 𝑐1 𝑐1′
𝑅 (𝑦) = (𝑦 ′ ) ⟹ 𝑅𝐴 (𝑐2 ) = 𝐴 (𝑐2′ )
𝑧 𝑧′ 𝑐3 𝑐3′

Multiplying the equation by 𝐴−1 From left:

𝑐1 𝑐1′
𝐴−1 𝑅𝐴 (𝑐2 ) = (𝑐2′ )
𝑐3 𝑐3′

Thus, the point 𝑟⃗ = 𝑐1 𝑎⃗1 + 𝑐2 𝑎⃗2 + 𝑐3 𝑎⃗3 is rotated to 𝑟⃗ ′ = 𝑐1′ 𝑎⃗1 + 𝑐2′ 𝑎⃗2 + 𝑐3′ 𝑎⃗3 by the matrix
𝑅𝐴 = 𝐴−1 𝑅𝐴.

𝑅𝐴 is thus not as simple as the original 𝑅 as we changed the directions from the
simpler 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 to the more natural (but less intuitive) 𝑎⃗1,2,3 . However, the trace (sum of
diagonal elements) of 𝑅𝐴 is the same as the trace of 𝑅.

𝑡𝑟 𝑅 = cos 𝜃 + cos 𝜃 + 1 = 1 + 2 cos 𝜃

 After this large mathematical digression, let us consider what happens when we try
to rotate a lattice point 𝑎1 with 𝑅𝐴 (taking another lattice point as the origin). It must
be rotated to a point 𝑛1 𝑎⃗1 + 𝑛2 𝑎⃗2 + 𝑛3 𝑎⃗3 with integer 𝑛1 , 𝑛2 , 𝑛3 if the crystal is to remain
the same after rotation (i.e., we must map the lattice point into some other pre-
existing lattice point and all lattice points can be represented as 𝑛1 𝑎⃗1 + 𝑛2 𝑎⃗2 + 𝑛3 𝑎⃗3 for
integers 𝑛1 , 𝑛2 , 𝑛3 . Consequently, we have:
1 𝑛1
𝑛
𝑅𝐴 (0) = ( 2 )
0 𝑛3

(Taking 𝑐1 = 1, 𝑐2 = 0, 𝑐3 = 0,𝑐1,2,3
′
= 𝑛1,2,3 ) Therefore, we can conclude that the first row
of 𝑅𝐴 is made up of integers (specifically, 𝑛1 , 𝑛2 , 𝑛3 ). Repeating this for 𝑎⃗2,3 we find that
all the elements of 𝑅𝐴 are integers. Therefore, the trace of 𝑅𝐴 = 1 + 2 cos 𝜃 must also be
an integer (the sum of integers is an integer). Since −1 ≤ cos 𝜃 ≤ 1 the trace 1 + 2 cos 𝜃 is
bounded between -1 and 3.
2𝜋
So, an 𝑛 fold axis is only allowed when 1 + 2 cos 𝜃 is an integer, while 𝜃 = , 1+
𝑛
2𝜋
2 cos is an integer. This is only satisfied by 𝑛 = 1,2,3,4,6 and not 𝑛 = 5,7,8,9,10 … or so
𝑛
on.

𝑛 = 1 → 1 + 2 cos 2𝜋 = 3 → 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦

𝑛 = 2 → 1 + 2 cos 𝜋 = −1 → 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦

2𝜋 −1
𝑛 = 3 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 cos 120 = 1 + 2 × = 0 → 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑦𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
3 2
𝜋
𝑛 = 4 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 ∗ 0 = 1 → 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
2
2𝜋
𝑛 = 5 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 ∗ cos 72 = 1 + 2 ∗ 0.3 = 1.618 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑛′ 𝑡 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
5
𝜋 1
𝑛 = 6 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 ∗ = 2 → 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
3 2
2𝜋
𝑛 = 7 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 ∗ 0.6234 = 2.2469 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
7
𝜋 1
𝑛 = 8 → 1 + 2 cos =1+2∗ = 2.414 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
4 √2
2𝜋
𝑛 = 9 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 ∗ cos 40 = 2.532 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
9
𝜋
𝑛 = 10 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 cos 36 = 1 + 2 ∗ 0.8 = 2.618 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
5
2𝜋
𝑛 = 11 → 1 + 2 cos = 2.682 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
11
2𝜋 √3
𝑛 = 12 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 cos 30 = 1 + 2 ∗ = 2.732 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
12 2
2𝜋
𝑛 = 13 → 1 + 2 cos = 2.6825 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
11
 𝜋
𝑛 = 14 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 cos 25.714 = 2.8 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
7
2𝜋
𝑛 = 15 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 cos 24 = 2.827 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
15
𝜋
𝑛 = 16 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 cos 22.5 = 2.847 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
8
2𝜋
𝑛 = 17 → 1 + 2 cos = 2.864 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
17
𝜋
𝑛 = 18 → 1 + 2 cos = 1 + 2 cos 20 = 2.8793 → 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦
9
.