View source for Twinning by metric merohedry

<p><font color="blue"> Maclage par mériédrie métrique</font>(<i>Fr</i>). <font color="black"> Geminazione per meroedria metrica</font>(<i>It</i>).
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Twinning by metric merohedry is a special case of [[twinning by merohedry]] which occurs when:
* the lattice of the individual has accidentally a specialized metric which corresponds to a higher holohedry,
* the twin operation belongs to this higher holohedry only.

If ''H'' is the individual point group, ''D''(''H'') the corresponding holohedry and ''D''(''L'') the point group of the lattice, twinning by metric merohedry corresponds to ''D''(''L'') &sup; ''D''(''H'') &supe; ''H''.

Twinning by metric merohedry can be seen as the degeneration of [[twinning by reticular merohedry]] to [[twin index]] 1, or of [[twinning by pseudomerohedry]] to [[twin obliquity]] zero.

==Example==
A monoclinic crystal of point group ''H'' = 2 with angle &beta; = 90º has an orthorhombic lattice. It may undergo two types of twinning by merohedry:
* if the twin operation belongs to the monoclinic holohedry ''D''(''H'') = 2/''m'', twinning is the classical twinning by merohedry, also termed ''twinning by syngonic merohedry'';
* if the twin operation belongs to the orthorhombic holohedry ''D''(''L'') = ''mmm'', twinning is by metric merohedry.

==Historical note==
Friedel (1904, p. 143; 1926, pp. 56-57) called metric merohedry '''mériédrie d’ordre supérieur''' (higher order merohedry)  but stated that it was either unlikely or equivalent to a pseudo-merohedry of low obliquity. Nowadays several examples of true metric merohedry (within experimental uncertainty) are known.

== References ==
*Friedel, G. (1904). ''Étude sur les groupements cristallins.'' Extrait du ''Bulletin de la Société de l'Industrie minérale'', Quatrième série, Tomes III et IV. Saint-Étienne, Société de l'imprimerie Théolier J. Thomas et C., 485 pp.
*Friedel, G. (1926). ''Leçons de Cristallographie.'' Berger-Levrault, Nancy, Paris, Strasbourg, XIX+602 pp.

[[Category:Twinning]]