Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2018/1/c/solution
Past exam of the condensed matter physics course of the University of Oxford 2018 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The beta phase has a primitive cubic lattice with an eight-atom atomic basis of a crystal, rather than a body-centred cubic lattice. A lattice translation must map the entire atomic arrangement onto itself. For example, the putative body-centering vector maps to modulo integer coordinates, where the given atomic basis of a crystal has no atom. None of the seven nonzero basis positions generates a translation that preserves all eight sites. ThereforeThe presence of atoms at both the origin and the body centre alone is insufficient to establish body-centering of the full crystal structure.
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