title: The antisymmetry of distortions.
abstract: Distortions are ubiquitous in nature. Under perturbations such as stresses, fields or other changes, a physical system reconfigures by following a path from one state to another; this path, often a collection of atomic trajectories, describes a distortion. Here we introduce an antisymmetry operation called distortion reversal that reverses a distortion pathway. The symmetry of a distortion pathway is then uniquely defined by a distortion group; it has the same form as a magnetic group that involves time reversal. Given its isomorphism to magnetic groups, distortion groups could have a commensurate impact in the study of distortions, as the magnetic groups have had in the study of magnetic structures. Distortion symmetry has important implications for a range of phenomena such as structural and electronic phase transitions, diffusion, molecular conformational changes, vibrations, reaction pathways and interface dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Institute and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Brian K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: VanLeeuwen
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Institute and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Venkatraman
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gopalan