Bravais lattice

In geometry and crystallography, a Bravais lattice, studied by Auguste Bravais (1850),[1] is an innite array of
discrete points generated by a set of discrete translation
operations described by:

a2

a2

a2

a1

a1

a1

|a1| |a2|, 90

|a1| |a2|, = 90

|a1| |a2|, 90

R = n1 a1 + n2 a2 + n3 a3
where ni are any integers and a are known as the primitive vectors which lie in dierent directions and span the
lattice. This discrete set of vectors must be closed under
vector addition and subtraction. For any choice of position vector R, the lattice looks exactly the same.

a2

|a1| = |a2|, = 120

|a1| = |a2|, = 90

The ve fundamental two-dimensional Bravais lattices: 1

oblique, 2 rectangular, 3 centered rectangular, 4 hexagonal
(rhombic), and 5 square. In addition to the stated conditions,
the centered rectangular lattice fullls 2a2 a1 a1 . This orthogonality condition leads to the rectangular pattern indicated
and implies = 90 .

Primitive (P): lattice points on the cell corners only

(sometimes called simple)

Two Bravais lattices are often considered equivalent if

they have isomorphic symmetry groups. In this sense,
there are 14 possible Bravais lattices in three-dimensional
space. The 14 possible symmetry groups of Bravais lattices are 14 of the 230 space groups.

Body-Centered (I): lattice points on the cell corners

with one additional point at the center of the cell
Face-Centered (F): lattice points on the cell corners
with one additional point at the center of each of the
faces of the cell

Bravais lattices in at most 2 dimensions

Base-Centered (A, B, or C): lattice points on the

cell corners with one additional point at the center
of each face of one pair of parallel faces of the cell
(sometimes called end-centered)

In zero-dimensional and one-dimensional space, there is

only one type of Bravais lattice.

Rhombohedral (R): lattice points on the cell corners

only where a = b = c and = = 90 (special
case for the rhombohedral lattice system)

In two-dimensional space, there are ve Bravais lattices:

oblique, rectangular, centered rectangular, hexagonal
(rhombic), and square.[2]

a1

a1

When the discrete points are atoms, ions, or polymer

strings of solid matter, the Bravais lattice concept is used
to formally dene a crystalline arrangement and its (nite)
frontiers. A crystal is made up of a periodic arrangement
of one or more atoms (the basis) repeated at each lattice
point. Consequently, the crystal looks the same when
viewed from any equivalent lattice point, namely those
separated by the translation of one unit cell (the motive).

a2

Not all combinations of lattice systems and lattice types

are needed to describe all of the possible lattices. If we
consider R equivalent to P, then there are in total 7 6
= 42 combinations, but it can be shown that several of
these are in fact equivalent to each other. For example,
the monoclinic I lattice can be described by a monoclinic
C lattice by dierent choice of crystal axes. Similarly,
all A- or B-centred lattices can be described either by a
C- or P-centering. This reduces the number of combinations to 14 conventional Bravais lattices, shown in the table below. The rhombohedral lattice is ocially assigned
as type R in order to distinguish it from the hexagonal lat-

Bravais lattices in 3 dimensions

In three-dimensional space, there are 14 Bravais lattices.

These are obtained by combining one of the seven lattice
systems (or axial systems) with one of the seven lattice
types (or lattice centerings). In general, the lattice systems can be characterized by their shapes according to
the relative lengths of the cell edges (a, b, c) and the angles between them (, , ). The lattice types identify the
locations of the lattice points in the unit cell as follows:
1

tice in the trigonal crystal system. However, for simplicity

this lattice is often shown as type P.
The volume of the unit cell can be calculated by evaluating a b c where a, b, and c are the lattice vectors. The
volumes of the Bravais lattices are given below:
Centred Unit Cells :

Bravais lattices in 4 dimensions

In four dimensions, there are 64 Bravais lattices. Of

these, 23 are primitive and 41 are centered. Ten Bravais
lattices split into enantiomorphic pairs.[3]

See also
Translational symmetry
Lattice (group)
classication of lattices
Miller Index
Translation operator (quantum mechanics)

References

[1] Aroyo, Mois I.; Ulrich Mller; Hans Wondratschek

(2006). Historical Introduction. International Tables for Crystallography (Springer) A1 (1.1): 25.
doi:10.1107/97809553602060000537. Retrieved 200804-21.
[2] Kittel, Charles (1996) [1953]. Chapter 1. Introduction
to Solid State Physics (Seventh ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 10. ISBN 0-471-11181-3. Retrieved
2008-04-21.
[3] Brown, Harold; Blow, Rolf; Neubser, Joachim; Wondratschek, Hans; Zassenhaus, Hans (1978), Crystallographic groups of four-dimensional space, New York:
Wiley-Interscience [John Wiley & Sons], ISBN 978-0471-03095-9, MR 0484179

Further reading
Bravais, A. (1850). Mmoire sur les systmes forms par les points distribus rgulirement sur un
plan ou dans l'espace. J. Ecole Polytech. 19: 1
128. (English: Memoir 1, Crystallographic Society
of America, 1949.)
Hahn, Theo, ed. (2002). International Tables for
Crystallography, Volume A: Space Group Symmetry
A (5th ed.). Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag.
doi:10.1107/97809553602060000100. ISBN 9780-7923-6590-7.

EXTERNAL LINKS

7 External links
Catalogue of Lattices (by Nebe and Sloane)
Smith, Walter Fox (2002). The Bravais Lattices
Song.

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