Izbrane teme sodobne fizike in matematike
Kvazikristali so urejene samo-sebi podobne strukture brez translacijske simetrije. Poleg kovinskih zlitin so jih v zadnjih letih našli tudi v mehki snovi, in sicer med tekočimi kristali, nanodelci in koloidi. Pri obravnavi si pomagamo z analogijo z dvodimenzionalnimi tlakovanji. Lastnosti kvazikristalov se razlikujejo od običajnih kristalnih struktur in odpirajo široko področje novih raziskav. Intenzivno se raziskuje njihova praktična uporaba, predvsem v kompleksni optiki in fotoniki.
Quasicrystals are ordered self-similar structures without translation symmetry. Beside metal alloys they were also found in soft matter in the last few years, mainly among liquid crystals, nano-particles and colloids. The analogy with two dimensional tilings can help describing them. Properties of quasicrystals differ from ordinary crystalline structures and are opening broad area of new research. Their practical value is being intensively researched, mainly in complex optics and photonics.