Comments on Quasicrystals

The discoveries of so-called quasicrystals have broken through the theoretic foundation set up by the classical crystallographic group theory since 1891 and proposed new topics for study of solid structures. Electron diffraction patterns (EDP's) and high-resolution microscopic (HREM) images have proved invaluable tools of studying the structures of crystals. The recognition and determination of EDP's and HREM images of a real-structure play a key role for understanding the structure. This paper will introduce some new developments about crystallographic group theory and new image processing methods on EDP's and HREM images. Contrary to popular beliefs, the research shows that quasicrystals can be understood (perturbed) complex periodic structures.