论文部分内容阅读
准晶体的概念是从数学游戏开始的,但在一天之内由游戏变成事实。科学游戏的至关重要的作用生动地演示在一种叫做准晶体的新型物质被发现的故事中。准晶体是三维结构,但它们的前身存在于二维即平面中。这个故事要从1977年1月说起,那时加德纳(Martin Gardner)在《科学美国人》杂志“数学游戏”专栏中发表了如何用瓷砖铺盖平面的问题。这个问题历史悠久,可追溯到古希腊的镶嵌画,但是加德纳的文章激起了研究的浪潮,把铺砌问题带到近代物理学的前沿。关于铺砌问题的数学分析是从观察平面上(例如地板上)的铺砌模型开始的。这种铺砌没有间隙,铺片是长方形、三角形或正六边形,但不是圆形或星形,这里特别要说的是它不能是正五边形。不管你如何拚凑正五边形铺片,它们总要留下间隙,构成奇形怪状的图案。
The concept of quasicrystals starts with math games but becomes a fact by game in a day. The vital role of science games is vividly demonstrated in stories where a new type of material called quasi-crystals is discovered. Quasicrystals are three-dimensional structures, but their predecessors exist in two-dimensional or planar. The story begins in January 1977 when Martin Gardner published a question on how to tile a plank in the Scientific American column of Science American magazine. This issue has a long history dating back to the mosaics of ancient Greece, but Gardner's article provoked a wave of research that took the paving problem to the forefront of modern physics. Mathematical analysis of paving problems starts with a paving model that looks on a flat surface, such as on the floor. This kind of paving has no gap. The paving is rectangular, triangular or regular hexagon, but it is not circular or star shaped. In particular, it can not be a regular pentagon. No matter how you put together a regular pentagonal paving, they always leave a gap, forming a bizarre pattern.