ABSTRACT
In many applications of statistical mechanics, the system is composed of atoms or molecules in a regular crystalline arrangement, on a lattice in three-dimensional space, rather than the random positions found in a gas or liquid. When the lattice arrangement repeats periodically, and can be described by the repetition of the points in a fundamental unit cell, it is known as a Bravais lattice [5,14]. Here we discuss some of the implications of having atoms in these kinds of regular arrangements.
