On the Symmetries of Spherical Harmonics

Abstract

Let be a finite group of transformations of three-dimensional Euclidean space, such that the distance between any two points is preserved by all transformations of the group. Such a group is a group of orthogonal linear transformations of three variables, or, geometrically speaking, a group of rotations and rotatory inversions. Thirty-two groups of this type are important in crystallography and are known as the crystallographic classes.