Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/1/b/solution

Put . Define
The scalar triple product gives . Consequently every integer combination satisfies
This proves that the proposed vectors generate points in the reciprocal lattice, but primitiveness also requires the converse. Let satisfy the exponential condition for every lattice vector, and in particular for . Then
Since the form a basis of three-dimensional space, the vector has the same dot products with each as . Their difference is orthogonal to three independent vectors and is zero. Hence
and no additional reciprocal lattice vectors lie outside that integer span. Thus the are primitive, not merely three possible reciprocal translations.

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