Revealing the mystery of the structure of diamonds

Diamonds are bright and sparkling, but their beauty ultimately ends up in a unique crystal structure, a guessing mathematician. Toshikazu Sunada, from Meiji University in Japan, performed mathematical analyzes of the structure of diamonds and found that it had some special properties, especially symmetry.

In a crystal, atoms are arranged in order, with repeating motifs, with bonds that keep them close together. The crystal model usually consists of points (representing atoms), connected by lines or faces.

Diamonds have two basic characteristics different from other crystals. One is " maximum symmetry " - while other crystals can be rearranged to become more symmetrical, diamond cannot. Diamonds also have a trait similar to circles and spheres, ie, looking from all sides equally. A diamond crystal does not look any different from any angle or direction.

Sunada discovered that among the numerous types of crystals according to mathematical theory, only one other form has the same two characteristics as diamond, which Sunada calls " crystal K_4 ".

" The K_4 crystal " looks as good as diamond, "Sunada said, adding that while it is currently only in theory, it may one day be found in nature.

Crystal model K_4. (Photo: Livescience)

T. An