reciprocal vectors

reciprocal vectors

[ri′sip·rə·kəl ′vek·tərz] (crystallography) For a set of three vectors forming the primitive translations of a lattice, the vectors that form the primitive translations of the reciprocal lattice. (mathematics) For a set of three linearly independent vectors, a second set of three vectors, each of which is perpendicular to two of the original vectors and has a scalar product of unity with the third.