Orbifold notation


In geometry, orbifold notation is a system, invented by the mathematician John Conway, for representing types of symmetry groups in two-dimensional spaces of constant curvature. The advantage of the notation is that it describes these groups in a way which indicates many of the groups' properties: in particular, it follows William Thurston in describing the orbifold obtained by taking the quotient of Euclidean space by the group under consideration.
Groups representable in this notation include the point groups on the sphere, the frieze groups and wallpaper groups of the Euclidean plane, and their analogues on the hyperbolic plane.

Definition of the notation

The following types of Euclidean transformation can occur in a group described by orbifold notation:
All translations which occur are assumed to form a discrete subgroup of the group symmetries being described.
Each group is denoted in orbifold notation by a finite string made up from the following symbols:
A string written in boldface represents a group of symmetries of Euclidean 3-space. A string not written in boldface represents a group of symmetries of the Euclidean plane, which is assumed to contain two independent translations.
Each symbol corresponds to a distinct transformation:
An orbifold symbol is called good if it is not one of the following: p, pq, *p, *pq, for p,q≥2, and p≠q.

Chirality and achirality

An object is chiral if its symmetry group contains no reflections; otherwise it is called achiral. The corresponding orbifold is orientable in the chiral case and non-orientable otherwise.

The Euler characteristic and the order

The Euler characteristic of an orbifold can be read from its Conway symbol, as follows. Each feature has a value:
Subtracting the sum of these values from 2 gives the Euler characteristic.
If the sum of the feature values is 2, the order is infinite, i.e., the notation represents a wallpaper group or a frieze group. Indeed, Conway's "Magic Theorem" indicates that the 17 wallpaper groups are exactly those with the sum of the feature values equal to 2. Otherwise, the order is 2 divided by the Euler characteristic.

Equal groups

The following groups are isomorphic:
This is because 1-fold rotation is the "empty" rotation.

Two-dimensional groups

The symmetry of a 2D object without translational symmetry can be described by the 3D symmetry type by adding a third dimension to the object which does not add or spoil symmetry. For example, for a 2D image we can consider a piece of carton with that image displayed on one side; the shape of the carton should be such that it does not spoil the symmetry, or it can be imagined to be infinite. Thus we have n• and *n•. The bullet is added on one- and two-dimensional groups to imply the existence of a fixed point.
Similarly, a 1D image can be drawn horizontally on a piece of carton, with a provision to avoid additional symmetry with respect to the line of the image, e.g. by drawing a horizontal bar under the image. Thus the discrete symmetry groups in one dimension are *•, *1•, ∞• and *∞•.
Another way of constructing a 3D object from a 1D or 2D object for describing the symmetry is taking the Cartesian product of the object and an asymmetric 2D or 1D object, respectively.

Correspondence tables

Spherical

Euclidean plane

Frieze groups

Wallpaper groups

Orbifold
Signature		CoxeterHermann–
Mauguin		Speiser
Niggli		Polya
Guggenhein		Fejes Toth
Cadwell
*632p6mC6vD6W16
632+p6C6C6W6
*442p4mC4D*4W14
4*2p4gCII4vDo4W24
442+p4C4C4W4
*333]p3m1CII3vD*3W13
3*3p31mCI3vDo3W23
333]+p3CI3C3W3
*2222pmmCI2vD2kkkkW22
2*22cmmCIV2vD2kgkgW12
22*pmgCIII2vD2kkggW32
22×pggCII2vD2ggggW42
2222+p2C2C2W2
**pmCIsD1kkW21
*×cmCIIIsD1kgW11
××pgCII2D1ggW31
op1C1C1W1

Hyperbolic plane

A first few hyperbolic groups, ordered by their Euler characteristic are: