Crystal Symmetry and Time Scales

Abstract

The relation between the notion of crystalline symmetry and characteristic time intervals when this symmetry could be observed is analyzed. Several time scales are shown to exist for a system of interacting particles. It is only when the observation time is much larger than the mesoscopic fluctuation time, the notion of crystalline symmetry becomes physically meaningful. The ideas are concretized by a two-phase lattice model.Comment: Latex file, 10 pages, no figures. Invited repor