Chirality and Symmetry Measures: A Transdisciplinary Review

Michel Petitjean (1, 2)

1 MTI - Molécules Thérapeutiques in silico
2 BFA (UMR_8251 / U1133) - Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative

Many quantitative measures of the degree of chirality or symmetry of a set have been proposed in the literature. The main approaches from various areas are reviewed: chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer sciences, biology, and psychophysics. Relations between chirality, symmetry, and other concepts such as similarity, disorder and entropy, are discussed.

Mots clés: chirality; symmetry; measure; continuous; quantitative; chiral index; direct symmetry index; asymmetry coefficient; skewness; chirality functions; quasi-symmetry; fuzzy symmetry

Domaines: Théorie des groupes [math.GR]; Géométrie métrique [math.MG]

Michel Petitjean. Chirality and Symmetry Measures: A Transdisciplinary Review. Entropy, 2003, 5 (3), pp.271-312. ⟨10.3390/e5030271⟩. ⟨hal-02126428⟩