No label defined (Q4032073)

Considered are four-dimensional point groups \(G_{40}\), i.e. finite subgroups of the orthogonal group \(O(4)\) leaving only trivial subspaces invariant, subdivided in the equivalence classes of conjugate subgroups. A finite number of classes consists of polyhedral symmetry groups, or their subgroups. The remaining ones, which form an infinite number of different classes, can be derived from lower dimensional colored point groups \(G^ P\) having elements \(C\) which are a combination of a point group transformation and a permutation of a finite set of different colors and satisfying the condition: \(C = sR = Rs\), with \(s\in P\) and \(R\in G\) where \(G\) is a point group and \(P\) a group of permutations. Particularly important are the cases of antisymmetry where \(P = C^ n_ 2\), the direct product of \(n\) groups of order two, that of \(P = C_ n\), a cyclic permutation group, and the dihedral one \(P = D_{n(2n)}\). The corresponding color permutation can then be interpreted as a (higher- dimensional) point group transformation: an antisymmetry as a reflection on an invariant hyperplane, a cyclic permutation as an appropriate rotation of order \(n\), and correspondingly, a dihedral permutation as a combination of an \(n\)-fold rotation with a hyperplane reflection. In the paper a catalog is given of all the different infinite classes of four-dimensional point groups \(G_{40}\), indicating those which also belong to a four-dimensional crystal class.