About: Periodic graph (crystallography)

In crystallography, a periodic graph or crystal net is a three-dimensional periodic graph, i.e., a three-dimensional Euclidean graph whose vertices or nodes are points in three-dimensional Euclidean space, and whose edges (or bonds or spacers) are line segments connecting pairs of vertices, periodic in three linearly independent axial directions. There is usually an implicit assumption that the set of vertices are uniformly discrete, i.e., that there is a fixed minimum distance between any two vertices. The vertices may represent positions of atoms or complexes or clusters of atoms such as single-metal ions, molecular building blocks, or secondary building units, while each edge represents a chemical bond or a polymeric ligand.