Entropy 2003, 5[3], 271-312
Entropy
ISSN 1099-4300
http://www.mdpi.org/entropy/
Chirality and Symmetry Measures: A Transdisciplinary Review

Michel Petitjean

ITODYS (CNRS-Université Paris 7, UMR 7086), 1 rue Guy de la Brosse, 75005 Paris, France. E-mail: [email protected]

Received: 20 April 2003 / Accepted: 3 July 2003 / Published: 3 July 2003

Abstract: 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.

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

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