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A convenient method for the description of orientation data for cubic, hexagonal, tetragonal and orthorhombic crystals is given. The method can also be used for the representation of disorientation data, where disorientations between any two crystals of the specified symmetry lattices are considered. It is based on the quaternion formalism introduced into the discussion of orientations and disorientations by Grimmer [Acta Cryst. (1974), A30, 685–688], Frank [(1987). Proc. Int. Conf. on Texture of Materials 8 (INCOTOM 8), Santa Fé, USA, pp. 3–13] and others. Since orientations and disorientations can be interpreted as rotations which in turn can be represented by only three parameters a vector description is used. These vectors span a rotation space corresponding to the usual space of Eulerian angles. It is called Rodrigues vector space [Rodrigues (1840). J. Math. Pure Appl. 5, 380–440; Becker & Panchanadeeswaran (1989). Text. Microstruct. 10, 167]. The direction of a Rodrigues vector is parallel to the rotation axis and its length is tan (θ/2), where θ describes the rotation angle. A method for selecting a unique representative out of the numerous symmetrically equivalent Rodrigues vectors is given. Since these selection rules depend on the symmetry of the crystal lattices considered they yield compact domains in the Rodrigues vector space which are typical for each type of lattice or lattice pair. These domains are always bounded by planes. Frank (1987) called them fundamental zones and described them for the orientations of cubic, hexagonal and orthorhombic crystals.

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