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Mathematician Theorizes a Crystal As Beautiful As A Diamond
Roland Piquepaille writes "Why are diamonds so shiny and beautiful? A Japanese mathematician says it's because of their unique crystal structure and two key properties, called 'maximal symmetry' and 'strong isotropic property.' According to the American Mathematical Society (AMS), he found that out of all the crystals that are possible to construct mathematically, just one shares these two properties with the diamond. So far, his K4 crystal exists only as a mathematical object. And nobody knows if it exists — or if it can be synthesized."
A Japanese mathematician has been found dead in his laboratory. Police say they suspect the killers to be jewelry-wearing silhouettes.
just as the price of diamonds are threatened by artificial sources, questions about funding evil regimes, and anger at diehard debeers monopolies, promising that men can give women what they want for only $10 someday, this mathematician a**hole comes along with a totally new need-to-have impossible-to-obtain subtance that guys must fork over big bucks for
curse you, mathematics!
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The reason diamonds are so beautiful is that every one of them represents gallons and gallons of blood and broken bones laying in the bottom of a diamond mine. Nothing is quite as shiny as pure human misery.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
... and only because it doesn't cost as much? I hope not, but I could imagine that. It makes me sick how brainwashed some people are in this regard (let alone others).
Because of all the dirt surrounding the diamond industry, I will never buy one, and when/if I propose to my girlfriend she's getting a ring with any gem other than a diamond. (And not because I'm some cheap-ass.)
Of course, any woman that doesn't accept you as life-partner because you didn't spend enough money on her engagement item is superficial, materialistic trash anyway.
The difference with diamonds here is that not only do they have a documented mathematical structure, but they can also already be constructed artificially. But hey, he might just be the guy who takes the second place for... erm... a kind-of-diamond-looking artificial crystal. It would be interesting to know if any other properties than a fancy look could in theory be attributed to this one thanks to its structure.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
"4 points, in which any two vertices are connected by an edge." Isn't that a tetrahedron?
There are tetrahedral crystals. The last picture on that page is an unusually nice one.
The possible crystal forms for an element depend on the bond angles, and I don't think carbon will hold a stable tetrahedral lattice. Not sure, though.
The value of diamonds has nothing to do with actual aesthetics. Of course, a dimond with a good cut and clarity is worth more, but it's not what makes people want them for jewelry, it's conspicuous consumption, little more.
After all, look at the value of often superior synthetics. Or look how people's taste for pearls rapidly decreased as the price decreased.
Of course, diamonds have plenty of other uses, but there is no shortage of them for that, seeing as DeBeers grinds up diamonds for industrial possess in order to keep the supply artificially low.
If you did want a diamond, there are non-African diamonds out there.
For example, there are Canadian diamonds.
Of course, there are also artificial diamonds, which, if I was getting hitched to a geek girl, I'd consider to be the perfect gift. :D
It also adds a personal touch to it..
... and only because it doesn't cost as much? I hope not, but I could imagine that. It makes me sick how brainwashed some people are in this regard
Companies have invested a large amount of time and money to do that brainwashing. So much so that it's become part of our culture (as in everyone knows a wedding ring is a diamond ring...even though in reality the "tradition" is quite new). What's worse is that it understanding these things doesn't change the traditions, and will still want the traditional item.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
To get things out of the way: Yes, I am structural chemist, I did RTFA and I am not a native english speaker, so please bear with my broken english.
I don't want to comment so much on the mathematical part of the paper, which might be interesting, but on the chemistry, which is non-sensical.
First of all the style of the article is very un-scientific. Note how often he mentions how pretty this crystal structure is. This is completely subjective and I don't see how this structure is prettier than many others. There is many fascinating structures and I don't think this or the diamond lattice are the most fascinating ones.
Then the assumption that the prettyness of diamond is a direct result from the crystal structure is silly. Someone else noticed that Silicium (and also Germanium and Tin) have exactly the same crystal structure - and they are not "pretty".
He doesn't mention space group nor atomic positions, which are absolutely fundamental when talking about a crystal structure.
Now even if the crystal would form like he describes (with 1/3rd double bonds), there is just no way this would ever look anything like a diamond. The electronic structure is completely different - diamond is an insulator, a classic dielectric material, whereas this, due to its double bonds and it's extendef pi-electron system, would be a classical conductor. It would probably look like graphite.
But, and this is the worst point, which even someone who only did very basic (highschool?) chemistry should immediately note, the compound can never form in this way. That's the first thing you learn about double bonds: they're flat or nearly flat. Admittedly, in fullerene and carbon nano-tubes, there is a certain curvation (making them not as stable as graphite), but if you look at this crystal structure, the double bonds have a dihedral angle of about 90 degrees. It's totally impossible to obtain this compound and everybody with scientific education should know this. The molecular orbitals can't form this way.
All in all I have no idea how it comes that this non-scientific non-sensical article is published by the AMS. Maybe you could make something out of the math part, but all the babble about prettiness and chemistry has to go.
If the symmetry and isotropy give diamonds their shine, why are crystals of
for instance Si, Ge, Sn not as beautiful? They have the same isotropy and crystal structure.
And why is a low-symmetry sapphire prettier than high-symmetry table salt?
I would guess high index of refraction, and the lack of absorption of optical wavelengths are the more relevant properties.
(see any textbook on crystallography, or for instance http://cst-www.nrl.navy.mil/lattice/ )
Why give a gem ring at all ? Give a simple ring, made of gold, with inscription inside, which comes visible and glows red when heated in fire.
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Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
It is well known that before the ad-campaign of mid 20th diamonds were not that much in "demand". Heck, it is well known that before the oversupply of the 19th century diamond were relatively rare. Look at wiki for more detail.
quote The De Beers diamond advertising campaign is acknowledged as one of the most successful and innovative campaigns in history. N. W. Ayer & Son, the advertising firm retained by De Beers in the mid-20th century, succeeded in reviving the American diamond market and opened up new markets, even in countries where no diamond tradition had existed before. N.W. Ayer's multifaceted marketing campaign included product placement, advertising the diamond itself rather than the De Beers brand, and building associations with celebrities and royalty. This coordinated campaign has lasted decades and continues today; it is perhaps best captured by the slogan "a diamond is forever". End Quote
Source wiki
Despite being in over surplus from mid 19th to mid 20th, diamond were not that popular and high in demand.
in such context "And diamonds have always been in demand." the always is too much. If you change that to mid 20th century onward, you will be right.
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That said, I've seen some very, very high quality diamonds (I forget the correct way to refer to it, but it was around 2 carats, no inclusions, and a D - completely colorless. Essentially, diamonds don't come any higher quality). Side by side with a nice piece of moissanite, I'd take the moissanite. A quick search on it will find better sources and images that show why, exactly, but I don't want to link to a commercial site and seem biased.
Actually, if this wasn't already part of a PR coup, it will become one very soon. "Scientist proves that diamonds are the prettiest existing crystals" is a great way to remind people to buy diamonds, and give them a good excuse for conspicuous consumption too.
The part about another crystal which could theoretically be as pretty, only it doesn't exist (and, as another poster noted, can't possibly exist because electrons aren't shared that way, plus it would be opaque) is just that extra bit of "science" to make it easier to swallow. It lets people feel that they've connected the dots themselves to reach your conclusion.
I mean, "scientist proves that diamonds are the prettiest possible thing in the universe" is a superlative, plus you're feeding people your message a bit heavy handed. Some will resist it. "Scientist proves that only one thing could be prettier, except it doesn't exist in nature" lets people go, "haha, silly scientist, but in the meantime, out of the things one can actually buy, diamonds are the prettiest, right?" Only now it's their own conclusion, and they won't fight it. In fact, they'll feel all smug and smart about it.
Sad to say, that's how PR works.
PR isn't marketing. PR is marketing's evil stealthy brother. It loves to masquerade as news, science studies, etc. Marketing plants the seeds, but PR ploughs your mind first.
Marketing just goes and tells you "Buy Mars chocolate bars, they're great." PR comes and tells you, "Scientists prove that chocolate is good for you! Valuable enzymes found in cocoa beans!" (Except, what they don't tell you, those enzymes are no longer present in chocolate.) That was an actual PR stunt sponsored by Mars.
Marketing just tells you "The suit is back! Buy Men's Warehouse suits, they look all professional and stuff!" PR goes and tells you "The suit is back! Here's a ton of interviews with managers swearing that they'd never hire someone who doesn't wear a business suit 24/7." That was an actual PR stunt debunked that was linked to even on Slashdot.
So, anyway, they write some piece of news and then carpet bomb sites and newspapers with it. A lot of newspapers, especially local ones, are even happy to just print whatever PR sends them, because it's written well and it's more interesting than local "raccoon found in Mr Smith's car" stuff. So pretty much any PR agency can get you in those. A really good one can get you on TV and on Reuters. Those tend to be a lot more expensive.
And faked scientific studies aren't new stuff either. A _lot_ of PR stuff is published as stuff backed by science and (pseudo)maths. The way that goes is, some PR hack writes some pseudo-science babble. It doesn't have to make any sense. It can add different units, or claim that a theoretical crystal is pretty when the electron structure would make it a metal, and thus look like Tin. It doesn't matter. If you can spot that, you're not in their target demographic anyway. Then it starts fishing for people with a Dr or Prof title who'll sign it. A lot say "fuck off", but eventually one has nothing to lose, noone takes him seriously anyway, and he could use the money. He'll take the pie in the face for their money.
Now I'm not saying that this particular paper is necessarily PR. It could be, but it also could be just someone who wanted to see his name in a journal. But even if it wasn't written as PR for the diamond cartel, that cartel could very easily use it as PR if they need some. Far from sending someone to kill him, they're probably happy right now.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Ha. Actually, you may be interested to know that advertising for diamond rings is actually targeted (albeit surreptitiously) at men. The message is: Women want a diamond ring. You don't need to ask them if they want it. It's such a deep part of our culture and their psyche that they want one. Just buy one.
The reason for this is, the companies who make money out of diamonds did a survey of couples considering marriage, and asked the women if they wanted a diamond ring. A lot of women knew how expensive it was, and replied that they didn't want a diamond ring, and they'd much rather put the money towards a house, furnishings, a car, etc.
This is obviously bad news for the diamond companies, so a few decades ago, the whole 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend' type advertising campaigns started, the whole purpose of which is to stop the man asking the woman if she'd like a diamond. Because quite often, she'd say no.
It doesn't matter where your diamond in particular comes from. If you buy a diamond at all, you're contributing to the high demand for diamonds. It's the same reason that US oil consumption props up the Saudis, even if we buy more oil from Canada than we do from Saudi Arabia.
In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
Thats 3 of the 4 C's, Carat, Clarity, and Color. A bad cut could definately impact the appearance of even a high quality core stone like that, and if the diamond wasn't certified, there's a lot of leeway in what the merchants call color D and no inclusions. (was it truely flawless under a 10x scope (IF or FL) or mearly to the unaided eye? Even w/ a bad cut and "no visible inclusions to the unaided eye, VS2), that would be a $20K stone, $30k if well cut, and was truely "ideal cut" and IF thats an $80k stone discounted.
Man made stones are still having trouble getting past .5 carats when I last checked. Moissanite looks good, but check w/ the one you love before substituting. Its not about the money but about trust, truthfullness, and respecting what she wants. When I spoke to my fiancee about it, and the various trade-offs (she loved that I already knew the trade-offs), we wound up going a non-traditional route that I would never have chosen by myself. I still spent what I budgeted, but the result is both stunning and practical (huge solitaires have lots of impracticalities it turns out); and it now represents not only the promise to marry her but how well we communicate.
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
Mordor Jewelers is not responsible for ring getting current owner killed, nor will there be any responsibility for alteration of the owner to a gollum like appearance.
Ring may also bind to other rings in darkness. Also may find other rings and rule over them. Not responsible for types of other rings, nor of the of ruling of the afore mentioned rings.
Ring is used, and did have prior owner, the "Dark Lord" who of course sits on a "Dark Throne". Mordor Jewelers is in no way associated withe the Dark Lord or his Dark Throne.
When caring for your ring, it is suggested that you avoid places like Mordor, and melting may occur if dropped into magma in Mt. Doom. Loss of ring in this manner is not the fault of Mordor Jewelers, nor will any reimbursement be merited.
Mordor is also not at fault if husband starts ignoring you, and you feel like he doesn't even see you anymore. Last but not least, one size fits all.
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While the beauty of gems is subjective, the one reason that diamonds are attractive is the high index of refraction of the material, which causes total internal reflection. Light from sources around the room can bounce around several times before it exits, giving the gem a "sparkle". The cut of the diamond can enhance this. The crystal structure determines which cuts are possible and which cuts give the best sparkle. But creating artificial gems with the same crystal structure will not give the same "sparkle" effect if the crystal does not have a high enough index of refraction to cause total internal reflection.
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