Fundamental phenomena and laws of nature are related to symmetry and, accordingly, symmetry is one of science's basic concepts. Istvan Hargittai has written and edited extensively on the question of symmetry in chemistry, and he has here assembled some very interesting papers which deal with the question of symmetry as it relates to quasi- crystals, networks and their relationships within a fivefold symmetrical context. This information will be useful to chemists (particulary organic and computational chemists) in creating new chemical structures for specific new uses.

Fivefold symmetry is common in flowers, fruits, molecules, logos, and buildings, but it is a forbidden symmetry in the world of crystals. A few years ago, the so-called quasicrystals were discovered displaying fivefold symmetry, and it caused a minirevolution in crystallography. There has been increased awareness of fivefold symmetry in all domains of human interest ever since. The present book brings together authors and ideas on a common theme from mathematics, the sciences, design, and anthropology to history, literature, and the arts. Its 29 chapters are an offering by scientists and humanists from 13 countries to a broad readership of professionals and laypersons about fivefold symmetry and the areas that are being bridged by this unique concept.

The book provides an introduction to all aspects of the physics of quasicrystals. The chapters, each written by an expert in this field, cover quasiperiodic tilings and the modeling of the atomic structure of quasicrystals. The electronic density of states and the calculation of the electronic structure play a key role in this introduction, as does an extensive discussion of the atomic dynamics. The study of defects in quasicrystals by high resolution electron microscopy and the computer simulations of defects and fracture in decorated tilings are important subjects for the application of these aperiodic crystals.

This first-ever detailed account of quasicrystal geometry will be of great value to mathematicians at all levels with an interest in quasicrystals and geometry, and will also be of interest to graduate students and researchers in solid state physics, crystallography and materials science.

In 1984 physicists discovered a monster in the world of crystallography, a structure that appeared to contain five-fold symmetry axes, which cannot exist in strictly periodic structures. Such quasi-periodic structures became known as quasicrystals. A previously formulated theory in terms of higher dimensional space groups was applied to them and new alloy phases were prepared which exhibited the properties expected from this model more closely. Thus many of the early controversies were dissolved. In 2011, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Dan Shechtman for the discovery of quasicrystals. This primer provides a descriptive approach to the subject for those coming to it for the first time. The various practical, experimental, and theoretical topics are dealt with in an accessible style. The book is completed by problem sets and there is a computer program that generates a Penrose lattice.

In this up-to-date review and guide to most recent literature, the expert authors develop concepts related to quasiperiodic coverings and describe results. The text describes specific systems in 2 and 3 dimensions with many illustrations, and analyzes the atomic positions in quasicrystals.

Uniting dozens of seemingly disparate results from different fields, this book combines concepts from mathematics and computer science to present the first integrated treatment of sequences generated by 'finite automata'. The authors apply the theory to the study of automatic sequences and their generalizations, such as Sturmian words and k-regular sequences. And further, they provide applications to number theory (particularly to formal power series and transcendence in finite characteristic), physics, computer graphics, and music. Starting from first principles wherever feasible, basic results from combinatorics on words, numeration systems, and models of computation are discussed. Thus this book is suitable for graduate students or advanced undergraduates, as well as for mature researchers wishing to know more about this fascinating subject. Results are presented from first principles wherever feasible, and the book is supplemented by a collection of 460 exercises, 85 open problems, and over 1600 citations to the literature.