Pepinsky's machine: An interactive graphics-based Fourier synthesis program with applications in teaching and research

Abstract

A computer program has been developed which, given a set of structure-factor amplitudes for any centrosymmetric plane group, displays the amplitude-weighted reciprocal-lattice plane and allows the user interactively to assign and modify the phases of the structure factors, while observing the effect of these changes on the corresponding electron density function. The program has the added feature of being able to calculate and interactively display the electron density maps corresponding to all phase combinations of a user-defined subset of structure factors. Applications of the program in both crystallographic teaching and research are discussed. © 1999 International Union of Crystallography - all rights reserved.