Structure determination of gaseous and amorphous substances by diffraction methods: Philosophical concepts and their implementation (A Review)*

摘要

Structure determination by diffraction methods is reviewed in terms of the philosophical and mathematical aspects of the techniques used to investigate the atomic arrangements in gaseous and amorphous substances. Both theory and experiment must be adapted to each other's limitations. This is accomplished often only after much time and study have been devoted to the problems. Some areas of application are favored by an overdeterminacy in the data, which helps to simplify the mathematical aspects of the analysis. Other areas have relatively few data compared to the number of unknown parameters. In such cases, special analytical procedures that use, for example, chemical and structural information are indispensible. Applications cover a broad range of problems and afford fundamental information to many fields of science.